Apple Inc. started 2008 with a new marketing strategy. This year, Apple Inc. is targeting its products and services to females around the globe. Steve Jobs has realized that women are critical in the decision making process in many homes and corporations as well. Even as we speak, a woman is running to be the next President of the United States and two South American countries already have a woman as their President, (e.g., Argentina and Chile).
To help implement the new marketing strategy, Apple Inc. announced last Monday that Avon Products CEO Andrea Jung will become Apple’s eighth member of its board of directors. Ms. Jung is an expert on direct sales strategies and the buying habits of women—at least a certain demographic of women—which could be enormously helpful to Apple in helping grow its various businesses. She has been with Avon since 1996, and before that was executive VP of high-end retailer Nieman-Marcus.
She has been one of Fortune’s 10 most powerful women in business for the last several years, and has turned around Avon’s fortunes by tacking to the high end and cutting costs. Furthermore, Ms. Jung is fluent in Mandarin, and has helped turn Avon around in part by focusing on the growing market for consumer goods in China. These attributes could help Apple refine its strategy for China which is the most attractive growing market in the Asian emergent economies. Can you imagine an iPhone, iPod and Apple Mac in every Chinese citizen?
To my mind comes the slogan of Apple Computers during its early years, “A mind forever voyaging though strange seas of Thought.”
I wonder what else is flowing through Steve Jobs’ “strange seas of Thought”?
Avon Chairman and CEO
Andrea Jung
(Credit: Avon Products)
(Credit: Avon Products)
Source: Apple names Avon’s Andrea Jung to board – CNET News.com
