Procter & Gamble:Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is a brand behemoth. The Company is focused on providing consumer goods products to improve the lives of the world's consumers. The company operates through three global business units (GBU): Beauty, Health and Well-Being, and Household Care. Some 25 of P&G's brands are billion-dollar sellers, including Gillette Fusion, Always/Whisper, Braun, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Downy/Lenor, Iams, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, Pringles, Tide, and Wella, among others. P&G is credited with many business innovations including brand management, the soap opera, and "Connect & Develop" innovation. In 2007, P&G spent more than any other company on U.S. advertising; the $2.62 billion it spent is almost twice as much as General Motors. P&G was named 2008 Advertiser of the Year by Cannes International Advertising Festival.

Procter & Gamble is a fortune 500 company based in Cincinnati Ohio. It is the 23rd largest US Company by revenue and 14th largest by profit. Today, the Company markets over 300 branded products in more than 160 countries. The Company has operations in over 80 countries through its Market Development Organization "MDO" having dedicated retail customer, trade channel and country-specific teams for building the Company's brands in local markets. It is organized along seven geographic areas: North America, Western Europe, Northeast Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe/Middle East/Africa, Greater China and ASEAN/Australasia/India.

A Chance Meeting of Minds

William Procter, a candle maker from England and James Gamble, a soap maker from Ireland might never have met had they not married sisters, Olivia and Elizabeth Norris, whose father convinced his new sons-in-law to become business partners. In 1837, as a result of Alexander Norris' suggestion, a bold new enterprise was born: Procter & Gamble. On April 12, 1837, William Procter and James Gamble start making and selling their soap and candles. On August 22, they formalized their business relationship by pledging $3,596.47 apiece. The formal partnership agreement is signed on October 31, 1837.

The Moon and Stars

Procter & Gamble (P&C) has one of the most well-known trademarks in the world—a man in the moon surrounded by stars. The trademark originated in the early 1850s as a symbol for P&G Star brand candles. This was during a time when most products did not carry a recognizable brand name. The original trademark included a star, which eventually became thirteen stars symbolizing the thirteen original American colonies. The man-in-the-moon was added because it was a popular decoration during the 1800s. In 1882, the trademark was officially registered with the U.S. Patent Office.

Soap Operas

Procter & Gamble produced and sponsored the first radio opera in the 1930s, which is now popularly called as soap operas. Procter and Gamble's being known for detergents (soaps) was probably the genesis of the term "soap opera". When the medium switched to television in the 1950s and 1960s, most of the new serials were sponsored and produced by the company.

Ivory Soap

James Norris Gamble, son of James Gamble, who was a chemist began working on for a new white soap. It was in 1875, through the carelessness of a fellow worker, one of the machines used in soap making process left running too long. As a result, too much air entered the soap, which caused it to "float". It was known simply as "P&G White Soap". In 1879, white soap was marketed as “Ivory soap” with unique size, shape and purity.

The Tide Changes

In 1946, Procter & Gamble scored big with two new products, Prell shampoo and Tide laundry detergent. Tide worked better than other detergents becoming America’s favorite laundry soap. Several more products were released: Crest, the first fluoride toothpaste to fight cavities (1955); Downy, a liquid fabric softener for use in washing machines (1960); and Pampers, the first disposable diaper (1961). The company also bought two well-known businesses, Charmin Paper Mills, which produced toilet tissue, paper towels, and napkins, and Folgers Coffee, a premier coffee producer.

The 1970s and 1980s were decades of expansion. Procter & Gamble purchased more companies and opened new factories. In 1984, Procter & Gamble added a new dimension to its most visible and popular product, Tide laundry detergent, by introducing Liquid Tide. In 1986, came the first shampoo and conditioner combined into one bottle, called Pert Plus. Next in the line was the company’s push into makeup and perfumes, with the purchase of Noxell, which owned the Cover Girl, Noxzema, and Clarion brands. Procter & Gamble had now entered the all-important teen market. Targeting the younger generation, P&G bought Sunny Delight brand of juice drinks in 1989, which was very successful in US and UK.

The Twenty-First Century and Beyond

Some of the company's major purchases include Old Spice bath and body products for men (1990), Max Factor makeup (1991), Giorgio Beverly Hills perfumes (1994), Iams Company pet foods (1999), and Clairol hair care products (2001). The company sold its Duncan Hines cake and cookie business in 1998 and its once-famous Crisco shortening in 2001. New household products like Febreze odor-fighting sprays and Swiffer cleaning wipes were launched, as well as more shampoo varieties such as Pantene Pro-V.

By 2002, Procter & Gamble had reorganized its entire business to focus on the global growth of its famous brands and to add new products ahead of its competitors. Its biggest buy in company history is Gillette in 2005, forming the largest consumer goods company and placing the Anglo-Dutch Unilever into second place. This added brands such as Gillette razors, Duracell, Braun, and Oral-B to their basket.

Procter & Gamble, a company with record revenues of $76 billion and which spends more than $2 billion on research and development, continues to offer products that appeal to every age group: from infants (diapers and baby wipes) to teenagers (Cover Girl makeup, Hawaiian Punch, Pringles potato chips) to parents and grandparents (prescriptions, bath and body care products) to even cats and dogs (lams pet food and treats). That's a remarkable feat for a small soap and candle company.