Avon Products, Inc. announced the appointment of James Thompson as Chief Beauty & Brand Officer, effective November 1, 2018. James joins Avon following a 24-year career at Diageo PLC, most recently serving as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer for Diageo North America. James will focus on leveraging the strength of Avon's beauty marketing and innovation to create more agile category teams that will be structured to work much more closely with Avon's markets. He will also spearhead the rejuvenation of Avon's brand. Â James will report to Chief Operating Officer, Jonathan Myers. During his tenure with Diageo, James worked on three different continents where he led a fundamental strategic overhaul and restructuring, including a culture and organisation transformation. As Global Managing Director of Diageo's Luxury Portfolio, he led a total review of the portfolio resulting in the company accelerating growth to gain leadership of the luxury drinks market despite a slowdown in the market. Prior to that he was Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer for Diageo Asia Pacific and Global Travel. Before Diageo James spent 10 years at Unilever PLC, serving in various marketing positions.