Avon announced the launch of Avon Connects—a social media website for women that allows them to interact with Avon representatives to get expert advice on the products. The new social media at www.avonconnects.co.uk serves for the purpose of helping women socialize, get support and advice from community members as well as enjoy other standard functions an average online community for women performs.

According to Emma Lowry, Head of ecommerce, the launch of the Avon Connects marks 125th anniversary of Avon. It is a modern tool of approaching the customer and providing them personal service in a new quick way without going door-to-door.

Speaking of the purpose of the new service, she said: “By using a social media platform to link customers with their local representatives, we can provide both with a time-efficient option without sacrificing the personal service that the customer desires”.

According to www.retail-digital.com, since its internal launch in September 2010, about 55,000 users have registered with Avon Connects, which accounts for more than 25% of total number of Avon’s representatives. Moreover, the number of page views total has exceeded 1 mln.

Launching a branded social network seems to become a rather popular trend among the high-profile brands seeking to establish close contact with the customer. Pepsi announced it has launched a social media website for women called PepsiCo’s Women’s Inspiration Network (PepsiCO WIN for short) to inspire, support and inform customers on the newly unveiled projects.