P&G

P&G

Ever wondered which is that one company which produces the line of products ranging from tide&ariel to gillete to duracel well yes its none other than P&G

Candlemaker William Procter and soapmaker James Gamble,become business partners on October 31, 1837, as a result, Procter & Gamble was created.From a million dollars in 1858 P&G has expanded to a multi billion dollae business with $83.8 billion in sales.

P&G has emerged as the market leader across a variety of categories, lets see what challenges it faces as market leader across so many categories.

Customer KnowledgeSpends more than $100 million annually on more than 10,000 consumer research projects.

Knowing its customers well helps the comapny to launch th right product into the market.Therefore the comapny encourages its researchers annd salesmen to be out on the field interacting with them in their home environment.

Analyzes each opportunity,delivers the best product and tries hard to make it a success.

Long-term outlook

P&G has a history of analyzing each oppurtunity before acting,once commited the company developes the best product possible and sticks to it , an example of this are the pringles chips which underperformed initially but later achieved market success.

Larry Huston, former innovation officer at P&G,stated,P&G is largely a branded science company.

Product innovation

Teh company understands that solutuons to todays problems require constant iterations to produce a winning product.Thus it employs over 1000 PHds who steer its R&D division.

Its builds amazing products and continuously improves them.Quality Strategy

Strategy is required to beat ones competitors,it is very effective in keeping its brand promise when it says a product is new and improved it means it.

1.Produces in various sizes and forms.2.Keeps launching new products under the strong brand name.3.Leverages the technologies already in place to create a brand extension.Brand extension strategy

1.This keeps competitors from moving in to satisfy market needs.2.P&G also uses its strong brand names to launch new products.3.Eg-Crest to crest whitestrips used bleaching methods from laundary division,film tech from food wrap div.

Maintains a good portfolio of brands in the same category.

Multi-brand Strategy

Eg-oral b and crest toothbrush ,these are to meet various customers needs and avoid comp for ex one brand may produce premium goods whereas the other may not.

P&Gs sales force has been named as the top 25 sales forces by Sales & Marketing Management magazine.Strong sales force

The company works closely with its sales team to adjust its offerings, the companys sales team works with retail giant walmart to improve the products which go to store and the process by which they get there.

Improved production leading to cost cutting.Manufacturing efficiency and cost cutting

The price of an item is a crucial factor which affects customer behaviour thus the companys applies constant efforts to cut costs though improved production.

1.Originated the brand management system.2.Keeps changing the system periodically.

Brand management system

With such a vast array of brands effective brand management plays a key role in companys success, the recent changes include one manager who runs one brand category and has volume and profit responsibility.

With fewer people watching TV,what should P&G do to maintain its unique brand image?

With internet reaching increasing masses customers atleast in the developed countries are spending more and more time with their smartphones than thier Tvs.Thus it becomes crucial for P&G to reach out to customers in new ways.

Emotional Branding & Brand image

Emotional branding affects what Freud described as the unconcious behaviour of the person and most of the buying decision for many people are on the basis of shape,size,color,brand name etc.

Online Presence

A good youtube channel,facebook page,google adsense-to find the needs of the customers,a blog to communicate various initiatives by the company and help to improve customer loyalty.

Risks it faces in the future...

In a pyramid the taller the deck of cards gets the higher are its probability to fall down the same is with a big corporation like P&G if not managed properly.

Competition

Competetion from other firm like HUL which is a major player in the asian market. It faces intense competetion with locally renowned brands with age old systems like Patanjali Ayurved in India.

Controversies

1.Price fixing2.Toxic shock syndrome and tampons3.Animal testing4.Human right violations of palm oil in 2016

Price fixing with HUL,Toxic shock syndrome and tampons leading to shut down of the Rely brand,Animal testing had to be reduced.Such issues hamper the brand equity leading to declining profits and sustainability.

Brand dilution

Too many underperforming brands may lead to poor brand image of the parent brand.

The company shut down 100 of its own brands n 2014. So many underperforming brands might affect the image of the mother brand too.

1.Origins of P&G.2.Problems of being the market leader in so many categories.3.New avenues of advertising-Youtube,Google Adsense etc.4.What next...

DisclaimerThese slides were created by Bhaveen Kumar,NIT GOA during a marketing internship under Prof.Sameer Mathur,IIM LUCKNOW.