P&G's Brand Management System
Based in Cincinnati, US, Procter & Gamble (P&G) was one of the largest manufacturers of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the world. For the financial year ending June 2003, P&G reported revenues of $43.38 bn and total earnings of $5.18 bn. In 2003, the company was ranked 31st among the Fortune 500 companies. P&G had operations in 80 countries worldwide, with an employee-strength of around 1,10,000 global. Analysts attributed the evolution of P&G, from a small soap and candle maker into a multi-billion dollar company, to its highly successful marketing and brand management strategies (Refer Exhibit I for P&G's competitive advantage in branding).
In the year 2003, the company marketed more than 300 brands to nearly five billion consumers in 160 countries across the globe. P&G had a noteworthy market share in some product segments (Refer Exhibit II) comprising laundry and cleaning (Tide, Cascade, Dawn), paper goods (Bounty, Charmin, Pampers), beauty care (Pantene, Olay, Cover Girl), food and beverages (Folgers, Pringles, Duncan Hines), and health care (Crest, Scope, Metamucil). Commending P&G's exceptional growth, an analyst state, ‘Within a paternalistic corporate culture, P&G pioneered in brand management, in consumer surveys for marketing research and in new product research and development’.
A pioneer in introducing a formalized brand management system way back in the 1930s, P&G constantly modified its brand management strategies as and whenever the company expanded its product & brand portfolio and its business operations worldwide.
The company introduced the category management model in the 1980s, focused on the 'glocal' branding strategy in the early 1990s and made modifications in its brand management system under the Organization 2005 restructuring exercise4 in the late 1990s. In the year 2000, P&G introduced the 'cohort management strategy' for managing brands. The strategy included grouping of brands to appeal to similar consumer groups. Explaining the future of cohort management strategy, Robert Rubin (Rubin), Director of Netquity at Forrester Research, state, "The days of reaching large audiences with generic messages and promotions will give manner to a new era in which individuals will be targeted and measured based on their behavior.
Describe P&G’s Branding System?