Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has wooed Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) CEO Andrea Jung to its board of directors, giving the Apple board a count of eight members as of January 2008. At this point in time, this really does make sense for Apple and the decision is a great one. Here's why.Jung, who has been with Avon for over 11 years, is deeply entrenched into how direct sales and marketing strategies apply to women. Although Apple's iPod has been geek-lust for many teenage boys and 20-somethings (among other demographics), the marketing of the iPod has almost always involved women in some form.
When marketing to males, this is standard issue when it comes to advertising. What if you want to go after more women shoppers? Ah-ha: that will be Jung's job in terms of advising Apple's board, among other things.
Jung not only helped turn around Avon by focusing on the high end of the cosmetic arena for women, but helped Avon by cutting costs and by entering into the burgeoning field of consumer goods in China's growing wage-earning population (Jung speaks Mandarin). Can Jung bring some pretty-ness to Apple's board, which was stung by a stock options backdating scandal in 2007 and could use some body polish? She sure can -- and perhaps open up the board's eyes to a large female market out there ready to buy Apple products.
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