Tatiana Piccolo, Global VP Fragrance: building a fragrance powerhouse

In the month that Avon has launched an innovative new Art of Selling Perfume programme for its beauty entrepreneurs, Tatiana Piccolo, Global VP Fragrance, has spoken out about how fragrance is set to Open Up Avon and drive business growth.

“Avon’s fragrance market penetration is already huge – we sell 450 bottles per minute* -making us one of the biggest fragrance brands in the world. Yet we have a tremendous opportunity to open up Avon further by building market share, unlocking growth and improving brand perception,” says Tatiana, who has more than two decades of experience in beauty and direct selling.

To do so, Avon will engage its millions of beauty entrepreneurs around the world in its new purpose-designed Art of Selling Perfume training module. By inspiring Representatives with all the easy-to-use content, tools and confidence they need to drive quality perception and sales, Avon hopes to unlock long-term sustainable growth. Poland is the first market to launch the new training, followed closely by Argentina.

“Avon is already a global fragrance powerhouse. It is a testament to the quality of Avon’s fragrances that we have remained at the top for so long, in an industry that launches 1,000 new fragrances a year,” Tatiana says. “Now we will focus on Representative education, giving them the knowledge and confidence to shout about the success, lastingness and quality of Avon fragrances.”

The new integrated training module is made up of tools and content that will drive dramatically better quality and results perception, opening up Avon to more consumers. Representatives will take part in a series of video masterclasses to help them learn about everything from how fragrances are made to different scent categories, and use bespoke tools to help them deliver personalised, one-on-one conversations with customers. They will receive ‘scent and sell’ cards for best-selling scents which detail the fragrance’s personality, style and key ingredients, plus offer selling tips and discussion points to help Representatives better connect with customers while enhancing sales.

The Art of Selling Perfume is a new approach for Avon, and further demonstration of how the business is investing in Representatives, unlocking talent, and opening up earning opportunities for them – and the business – in the fragrance category.

It’s one element of Avon’s broader marketing transformation led by Chief Beauty and Brand Officer James Thompson , which includes brand rejuvenation and leveraging the strength of Avon’s beauty marketing and innovation to deliver more market-relevant, on-trend products. Tatiana’s strong track record and talent in creating and launching brands and products are perfectly aligned with her remit to drive fragrance category growth for Avon.

“This is a new era for Avon fragrance,” Tatiana adds. “The programme will revolutionise the way Avon beauty entrepreneurs sell fragrance as we develop compelling propositions across a range of price points to build Avon’s position as a global fragrance powerhouse.”

The quality of Avon’s fragrances is clear; nine out of 10 of its top brands – including best-selling and still growing Far Away - are proven to be long-lasting.

“Brand and image drive quality perception,” says Tatiana. “And our attention to quality has meant we have many successful brands and huge loyalty globally. Avon was the first ever beauty company to sell fragrance door to door – we’ve been doing it for 130 years. Fragrance is in our DNA. We have stood the test of time and now we are ensuring that our future is sustainable.”

*2018 unit sales EDP/EDT/cologne