Stengel on Leadership, New Media and the Purpose Institute†

Q&A: P&G's Departing Global CMO Talks About His Legacy, His Future and What Changes, If Any, His Successor Has in Store

Advertising Age, July 21, 2008 — After seven years as perhaps the most visible, outspoken and successful Procter & Gamble Co. chief marketer in decades, Jim Stengel has announced he's leaving the post Aug. 1 and the company Oct. 31, after some special project work. In this interview with Advertising Age's Jack Neff, he discusses his legacy, what the transition to Marc Pritchard as global marketing officer means and whether he really does love the media as much as, say, Madonna does.

Dispelling the Myths about Open Innovation

Prophet, June 24, 2008 — When it comes to seizing the power of innovation to drive business growth, one of the best routes to success — based on practices of leaders on this front — is through Open Innovation. But while the concept is increasingly familiar and many organizations are eager to position themselves to harness its potential, considerable confusion exists around what Open Innovation is and what it isn’t.

Innovation Quest: Catalytic Leaders Set the Pace

Marketing News, June 24, 2008 — Innovation appears to be the holy grail of our times: Miraculous things will be wrought

when you find it, from an expanding cadre of continuously delighted loyal customers to a powerful, valuable brand, to sustained and healthy growth.

But the innovation quest is long, laborious andnot for the faint of heart. And success requires strong leadership setting the pace: a catalyst and change agent who has the vision, desire and ability to enlist and inspire others to the cause.

The Issue: How P&G Brought Back Herbal Essences

It updated a stale mass-market shampoo to appeal to younger Gen Y and Millennial women

BusinessWeek, June 17, 2008 — When Procter & Gamble acquired hair-care company Clairol in 2001, it inherited a floundering shampoo brand. By 2004, Herbal Essences, at the time nearly 35 years old and a mass-market hair-care brand for women, was in a "long-term decline," reports Chairman and CEO A.G. Lafley. Marketed to all women (or at least those who wash their hair), the line had gone stale, with little distinction from the many competitors it shared on the drugstore shelf.

Top Advertisers Add Meaning to Marketing†

P&G, Others Aim to Aid, Not Invade, by Crafting Purposeful Campaigns

Advertising Age, May 26, 2008 — Self-loathing has become all too commonplace in marketing, as Bridge Worldwide CEO Jay Woffington sees it, and not entirely without reason.

Young marketers or agency executives don't take long to learn they've dedicated their lives to creating stuff people seek to avoid, and with increasing success. But Bridge, a digital unit of WPP Group's Wunderman in, of all places, Cincinnati, ancestral homeland of Procter & Gamble Co. and interruptive advertising as we know it, thinks it has a disarmingly simple answer: "Marketing with Meaning."

Change boosts P&G's Febreze; nearing $1B sales milestone

Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2008 — It took some new uses to turn Procter & Gamble Co.'s Febreze into a brand now within whiffing distance of the billion-dollar annual sales milestone. After its first few years on the market, people weren't using the original fabric odor spray all that often, and sales were flattening. But researchers then realized people were already trying out the spray in other ways in their homes.

For Unilever, P&G, No Good Deed Is Going Unpunished†

Damned if You Do: Cause Efforts Become Ammo for the Critics

Advertising Age, May 5, 2008 — Greg Allgood, who directs Procter & Gamble Co.'s Children's Safe Drinking Water program, recently has spent a lot of time demonstrating Pur's purification packets for developing countries that turn disgusting, brown water crystal clear. On one TV appearance last week, he accidentally took a swig from the dirty "before" water instead of the treated water in a clip that made the rounds to "Countdown" on MSNBC.

It's symbolic of the downside companies in the forefront of ethical marketing have faced in recent weeks: No good deed goes entirely unpunished; high-profile stances on social causes can have unintended consequences; and the water is getting pretty murky as "ethical marketing" encourages consumers and activists to delve into corporate policies in... continue reading

'The consumer is boss'

Back in 2000, P&G was stumbling; earnings, execution, and morale were all poor. Now this historic company, founded in 1837, is on a roll. How did it regain its footing? One key: getting to know its co

FORTUNE, March 10, 2008 — In this adaptation from their forthcoming book, The Game-Changer, A.G. Lafley and management consultant Ram Charan describe the principles of innovation and give a grass-roots example of how listening to the bosses in this instance, Mexican housewives - can pay off. The first section describes, in Lafley's own words, the difficult circumstances he faced on becoming CEO of Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500) in 2000.

Arbitron, Nielsen Scrap Apollo Project†

P&G Was Big Backer of Ambitious Market-Research Program

Advertising Age, February 26, 2008 — Arbitron and Nielsen Co. have pulled the plug on Apollo, one of the most ambitious, expensive and heavily hyped market-research programs in history.

Apollo aimed to determine once and for all how exposure to a wide variety of media and marketing tactics influence purchases by tracking consumers' combined media and purchasing habits in a single-source database.

Recession, Eh? P&G, Colgate Boost Ad Bucks†

Thanks to Planned Price Hikes, Package-goods Giants Forced to Keep Pitching to Consumers on Merits of Their Brands

Advertising Age, February 4, 2008 — BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — Marketing budgets get cut in a recession, right? Not according to several of today's package-goods leaders.

In a testament to how important advertising has become to their businesses, Procter & Gamble Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Kraft Foods and Kellogg Co. all have boosted or at least maintained their marketing budgets, even as they've had to implement cost controls elsewhere. And that trend looks set to continue as these giants are forced to hike prices in response to rising commodities costs — a move that will require them to continue pitching consumers on the merits of their brands.