Piers Fawkes over at PSFK just opened up a big can of worms on Friday the 13th by asking the bold question…How Long Can P&G Last? Click here for the full post.
A 170 year-old “tradition rich” Company is really going down ???
In a nutshell, Piers says that P&G brands lack soul & substance. Brands that do have soul, history and substance - (e.g. Innocent Drinks or Method Soap) will continue to cut into P&G’s market share over time. P&G will be forced into a battle of attrition & then ultimately morph into a sort of distribution network that supports “real” brands with the management and their consumers who believe in their values.
Then it gets personal…
Piers then attacks the P&G (and Unilever) mid-level management by saying: “At P&G and Unilever brands appear to still be run from brand books by an army of brand managers who aren’t connected with the values each brand is supposed to contain. They sell faux brands that were created in an age of control - control of media and message
Where he is right:
- Challenger brands threaten: A new breed of more local/purpose based challenger brands (e.g. Method/Innocent) are inspiring people everywhere & challenging the multi-nationals. I have written about brands like Method on m-cause…these brands inspire me as well.
- Emergence of a “License/Distribution Network” Model: P&G is already experimenting with this type of business model on its fragrance business–which has experienced excellent growth over the past 15 years. With fragrances, P&G partners with A list fashion houses and consumers to deliver top notch products & marketing programs. Piers is right in that this type of model works can deliver more growth…so P&G could consider moving more in this direction to achieve its growth targets.
- Even more Openess/Transparency, please…:P&G has long been seen as a closed company with a internally focused corp. culture. But, in recent years, P&G has come a long way. Over the past decade, A.G. Lafley (our CEO) has brought in a wide range of “connect and develop” partners–even competitors, making P&G arguably one of the more innovative FMCG companies in the world (see A.G.’s new book for details). Even so, there is always room for improvement. P&G was a pioneer in “the age of control”. In the new world of soul, history, purpose, openness, and substance, there is an opportunity for P&G to get out front, pioneer, and lead change again. This blog is calling for conversation in this very area…
But then a swing & miss:
I enjoyed Piers article and I really appreciate the challenge he is making…hopefully it will start even more dialog and spur even more change. But where he goes wrong is when he gets a bit personal and calls out BMs for not being connected to their brands…perhaps he had a couple of bad experiences with BMs? I wonder where he got this? I have worked at several other companies (and govt. organizations)…I can tell you that P&G Brand Managers are very passionate about their jobs and their brands. Sure, you will find all types of people in a HUGE company, but this generalization is simply off target…Dave Knox over at the brand manager blog HardKnoxLife even mentions that he once met a P&G BM who tattooed his body with the brand he was working on. (Side note: you should read Dave’s excellent commentary on this debate as well).
P&G is a tradition rich company that will manage through all of this. You don’t make it past 170 years by just sleeping through major transitions in culture and consumer behavior…having said that, changing “before you have to” will be critical for P&G to ensure continued success.
Ryan Jones is interested in marketing and good causes. He currently works in Global Brand Management at Procter & Gamble and resides in Geneva, Switzerland.
6 Comments
Ryan - As usual, another great post. I was hoping the discussion would continue even more over at PSFK. Piers brings up some solid points but overgeneralizes for sure. Yes us P&G’ers switch jobs often and rotate to different brands, but we are still passionate about the work we do. I would love to see management think about this concept of real brands and invest accordingly. Could create some very exciting opportunities for all of us.
You hit it right on the screws.
I actually have some sympathy for PSFK’s point of view on Brand Managers. I agree that they are almost always passionate about the brand. But I think it’s less frequent that I see a resonance between the employee’s personal values and the values of the brand. That’s usually because neither entity has them well defined! As we move forward into this exciting new space, I think we need to do a better job of assessing our own governing values as individuals and the values that drive the brand.
I’ve either been a P&Ger or had P&G as a client for the past 10 years. Overall, I tend to agree with Matt and see a lot of truth in what Piers says. BMs at P&G (and really at every large company) tend to love overall business management rather than the craft of marketing/advertising. They want to “get the P&G MBA” versus “change the world.” A lot of this is due to the kinds of people that are recruited, the priorities that are set at W&DP time, and the fact that people get antsy to move jobs every 18 months. Another problem is the promote-from-within strategy which prevents fresh perspectives from entering.
That said, the company seems really excited about change for the first time since the dot-com years. Millenials are coming in, and some new organizational structure changes have promise.
I’m glad Piers started this debate, and singled out P&G in particular, as it could be the push that the company needs. P&G is not always the leader in change, but it has a history of moving effectively when the writing is on the wall. Here in this blog, three of P&G’s thought leaders are engaged - which suggests that more discussions will ensue in P&G GO’s around the world. The more we talk about it - especially externally - the more likely that BMs will think about the issue and change their behavior.
Finally, as for the rise of niche brands like Method, I do believe these brands have a lot of potential to steal share over time - maybe turning the mass product marketing business on its head in a couple of decades. But, as I heard in Cannes a few weeks ago, Method only recently hit the $100 million revenue mark. That’s after about ten years in market and with products across several categories. The brand may have captured the passion of marketing people, but it still has a long way to go with the general population.
Bob,
Fantastic points and perspective. Thanks!
Hi Ryan, as you know, I currently work on the agency side on one of P&G’s major brands. I am encouraged by what I see especially with regard to social media, and a recognition that one-way, mass-marketing messages are losing the effectiveness that they once had. Bob G makes a great point in saying P&G often isn’t the company that’s on the leading edge, but once they see that the writing on the wall, does move. Not sure it’s always that fast though. P&G tends only to spend in communications in which ROI can be measured, so as new social media emerge, and the metrics aren’t established, this can slow things up. But overall I see P&G being very open to new ways and requirements to build “consumer” relationships, and this is coming right from the top with AG Lafley’s statement about letting go of some control in order to be in touch. With regard to responding to the “threat” of small challenger brands, which today can build a profitable franchise and communicate efficiently, even without mass media, social media provides the same opportunity to P&G brands — to provide a personal and human face to people. Perhaps the new mantra for the P&G’s of this world will be to “be big, but act small” through social media.
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