Mark Makeup's New Generation of Avon Ladies
Mark's "Glow Baby Glow" gloss in Pink Crush. Photo: shop.MeetMark.com
These days, it's all about Avon's youthful cosmetics line Mark and a little thing called social media.
According to the New York Times, a whole slew of college girls are making some extra cash (and presumably applying it to their student loans) by selling Mark cosmetics.
Kristaunia Magnum, an Ohio State University student, became a campus sales manager and started selling the line because her mom was an Avon lady and it seemed the natural money-making thing to do.
But in addition to in-person marketing, Magnum and the sales reps use technology. "It's really a grass-roots kind of thing, hitting the dorms, sororities, Facebook," the marketing major told the paper.
With commissions running from 20 to 50 percent, Magnum ends up bringing home about $800 a month.
Another Mark rep, 20-year-old Hannah Parrish, sold $6,000 worth of products via a Facebook generated event. (Not too shabby!)
Mark's president Claudia Poccia, explained the line's approach to the Times: "We've taken the same DNA of direct selling that has always been a part of Avon's history and applied it to the digital world for our Mark reps to reach their customers. Now, we're offering our Mark reps the opportunity to sell products not just door to door, but on Facebook, wall to wall."
New tech-savvy lingo aside, Mark is seeing tremendous growth. There are now about 40,000 Mark reps in North America and they are primarily 18-24-year-old women. It makes sense since reality star turned author Lauren Conrad is the official face of the brand.
As for the future of direct-selling cosmetics? Expect more e-boutiques and Facebook networking. It seems to be working, as Mark has 86,000 Facebook members and last year's revenue was around $70 million.
Meanwhile, Mark's big sis Avon seems to be doing just fine -- the beauty giant just tapped Zoe Saldana as the face of its new fragrance.
Filed under: Beauty, News, Shopping
Tags: avon, Avon Ladies, College Students, Facebook, Lauren Conrad, mark cosmetics, Meet Mark, Selling Makeup, Social Media
Tags: avon, Avon Ladies, College Students, Facebook, Lauren Conrad, mark cosmetics, Meet Mark, Selling Makeup, Social Media
Beauty Company Aims to Help Young Entrepreneurs
The Real Girls on Branding Their Online Content
Makeup Icon Francois Nars Shares His Beauty Inspiration at Marc Jacobs Fall 2011
Mark Strong Discusses Challenges In Green Lantern Role
Blondie, 1-19-2010, 10:24AM
I used to sell Avon years and years ago, around 1984-1988. I honestly made no money,
out of the part-time job, but I did end up getting most or all of my make-up free. I've actually never even heard of Mark Cosmetics before, but it sounds like a good line of cosmetics and a brand that I would love to try sometime. I'm always on the outlook, for newer and better make-up! Right now, I use Estee Lauder which is ok but it's kind of getting old, and their Christmas make-up kits are getting cheaper and cheaper each year!!
Reply »