p&g seeks path to future prosperity

19 November 2012
Procter & Gamble seeks path to future prosperity

Few companies can boast the staying power or impact of Procter & Gamble. Of the Fortune 50 firms first named to that acclaimed list in 1955, P&G, which is among only 10 still in existence today - the others were acquired or out of business altogether. Globally, P&G's products are used by 4.5 billion consumers. Its 126,000 employees are in 75 countries, and its brands are sold in 105 more. Through its technology, the company has purified 5 billion liters of drinking water in Third World countries. Procter & Gamble CEO: Company is people powered Through its social programs, it has eradicated neonatal tetanus in eight countries, with hopes of wiping out the disease by 2015.

Here are the four biggest challenges facing Procter & Gamble:

Innovate, innovate, innovate

For now, P&G isn't sharing details on the company's latest innovations. But executives are pressing hard to get the new products out soonest, and put behind them a lull in its innovation pipeline that has lingered without a blockbuster in recent years. "We've got some outstanding technologies that are going to result in new-to-the-world products very soon," McDonald said. "New categories. New brands. Just some unbelievable new technologies."

P&G's leaders know that some of the company's fastest periods of growth have been driven by innovations that have created its most profitable lines, including Pampers disposable diapers, Tide liquid laundry detergents and home care items such as Febreze.

Those products are examples of "discontinuous innovation," McDonald said, meaning brands or categories that didn't exist on a mass scale until P&G's innovation prowess took hold. "We're going to want to strengthen our innovation program so that there are no gaps... so that we're constantly bringing new products, new brands, new categories to market," McDonald said.

P&G ranked eighth last year on a list of top innovators by Booz & Co., a global consulting firm. Apple and Google took the top two rankings. Recently, dozens of analysts flocked to Cincinnati to hear an update from P&G's leadership on its best innovations, business strategy and work to cut costs. Ali Dibadj, an analyst with New York-based Sanford C. Bernstein, said he wanted to hear more about P&G's portfolio mix and whether there were some categories or brands that management would consider divesting. "Although we do not know of anything imminent, we would welcome changes to the company's portfolio, including Duracell, pet (care), Braun, consumer tissue, and salon," Dibadj wrote in a note to investors. P&G's longevity has been built on a proven ability to anticipate and create products that consumers want and need. Globally, it's built a business that has become the biggest and the best at doing just that, boasting 25 brands that crank out more than $1 billion in sales a year. "You have your stars that are very profitable, and people will continue to purchase regardless of the economy. But you have to have products that are reflective of changing consumer tastes," he said. "There can't be a one-size-fits-all mentality. People are going to be very fickle going forward." Core to the changes underway at P&G is a mission by its top leaders to improve productivity. This month, the company created a new executive post: Productivity and Organization Transformation Officer. "We're not going to be able to just use productivity to get to the top tier. The greatest leaders are those who can balance what appears to be a dilemma to other people." - Full Article: Procter & Gamble seeks path to future prosperity

"OBJ Limited has executed a Letter of Intent to establish a Strategic Alliance program with one of the world’s leading Consumer Products companies for the evaluation of OBJ technologies across multiple product categories..."

"The Letter of Intent for the Strategic Alliance sets out a program of technical evalutions that, if successful, should lead to an initial 5 year Strategic Alliance for the design and development of a wide range of consumer products..."

"The Strategic Alliance with a major international FMCG company announced in September 2010 is progressing across multiple fronts..."

"The broad range of products for which the OBJ technology is being evaluated..."

If our market continues to define words like, 'multiple product categories', 'wide range', 'multiple fronts' and 'broad range' as terms equivalent to the number, 'Zero, but I would argue that it will need to factor in something above that figure ;)