Avon creates Digital
Board to propel ambitious digital innovation program
LONDON, July 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Avon Products,
Inc. (NYSE: AVP), a global leader in direct selling of beauty
products, today announced that Benedetto
Conversano has been appointed to the newly-created role of
SVP, Chief Digital & Information Technology Officer, effective
September 3. Mr. Conversano will
succeed Sue Liddie, GVP, Chief
Information Officer who is retiring and he will assume additional
responsibilities for leading Avon's digital strategy. Benedetto will report
to Jonathan Myers, Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer and to Jan Zijderveld, CEO, in his duties leading a new
Digital Board for Avon.
Benedetto Conversano is a
seasoned global business leader with decades of proven experience
developing and implementing successful digital, e-commerce and IT
strategies across global organizations. He most recently served as
Chief Global Information Officer at Jeronimo Martins, a €16 billion
revenue international food, health and beauty retailer, where he
was responsible for their global strategy to "Grow efficient,
digital and consumer relevant" B2C transformation.
Prior to this, Mr. Conversano served on IKEA's E-Commerce board,
and was the architect of the digital transformation, steering the
development of the new global multi-channel, e-commerce capability
that was instrumental in the evolution of IKEA's business model,
while leading the development and implementation of IKEA's global
IT strategy. Before this, Benedetto worked for 15 years at
the consumer packaged goods business, Procter & Gamble
(P&G), where he built CRM, ERP and Sales Force Automation
systems, which helped to transform the business and built one of
P&G's first 'big-data' systems. Benedetto was
a finalist in the European CIO of the Year 2018 and completed a
Masters in Electronic Engineering and Microelectronics.
Mr. Conversano will be responsible for developing a new
digital strategy as a foundational element of Avon's future plans, while building,
developing and standardizing technology solutions and delivery
across the global organization. As part of this ambition,
Avon is founding a Digital Board
comprised of digital, commercial and other business leaders.
The Digital Board will be led by Benedetto.
"We are thrilled for the opportunity to benefit from Benedetto's
proven, strong strategic, consumer-focused digital, technological
and operational skillset, having played a pioneering role in
helping some of the world's best-known brands deploy
consumer-friendly digital platforms," said Jan Zijderveld, Chief Executive Officer.
"Avon is undergoing a period of
significant change, and customer-friendly digital interfaces,
supported by a much more efficient technology infrastructure and
rich data analytics, are a key strategic driver of the
organization's future progress."
"This is an exciting time for Avon and I am eager to jump in to this
newly-created role during a turnaround," said Mr. Conversano. "I am
impressed with Avon's long history
of providing great innovation to customers globally and believe
digitization is at the heart of advancing Avon's brand relevancy
and Representative and consumer loyalty. I look forward to working
with Jan, Jonathan and Avon's
executive leadership team to grow the Company's digital platform
for the 6 million Representatives and their customers and to
execute a strong global IT strategy to drive efficiencies across
the organization, increase sales growth and reach higher levels of
profitability."
Jan Zijderveld continued, "I
would like to thank Sue Liddie for
many achievements during the last eight years with the
business. She has helped to transform the IT function, while
helping to deliver some key Representative IT initiatives into key
markets."
Heather Payne appointed Chief
Technology Officer
Heather Payne has also been
appointed as Chief Technology Officer, reporting into Benedetto,
having previously served as Chief Technology Officer for DMG media
(Daily Mail Group), an international multi-channel media company,
where she oversaw IT changes across all functions of the business,
including completing the transformation of technology and change
process and co-creating the innovation strategy for the
business. Prior to this, Ms. Payne was Group Head of IT,
Hotel Inventory & Complementary at Thomas Cook Group, where she
was responsible for a program that established a new business
model, platform and organization, leading teams across Europe. She previously held senior roles in IT
for Hotels4U, Avis and Ford.
About Avon Products, Inc.
Avon is the Company that for
130 years has proudly stood for beauty, innovation, optimism and,
above all, for women. Avon
products include well-recognized and beloved brands such as ANEW,
Avon Color, Avon Care, Skin-So-Soft, and Advance Techniques sold
through approximately 6 million active independent Avon Sales
Representatives. Learn more about Avon and its products at
www.avoncompany.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that
are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including Avon's efforts to implement its new digital
strategy that will help drive efficiencies, increase sales growth
and reach higher levels of profitability. Because
forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and
uncertainties, actual future results may differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are
not limited to, the possibility of business disruption, competitive
uncertainties, and general economic and business conditions in
Avon's markets as well as the
other risks detailed in Avon's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Avon undertakes no obligation to update any
statements in this press release for changes that happen after the
date of this release.
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SOURCE Avon Products, Inc.