Lessons from P&G – Making the Number

How’s business?  Are you and your company on track to deliver the promised results for the year? 

 

Do you require a boost in performance?

While this is written to address the companies who are not at desired levels, the basic message holds true for those that are doing well and want to continue the progress.

We are entering the last quarter of the calendar year and incremental effort may be required.  At Procter & Gamble, this was the time to call in the experienced help.  It wasn’t just the senior management.  It was getting advice and assistance from others who had fresh ideas and could identify opportunities.  They had the experience to know what would work and what could deliver the number without increasing the resources.

In today’s world companies generally have the financing required and of course the product ideas.  It is the experienced management talent that is often missing. That was a big difference compared to Procter & Gamble where there was an abundance of highly trained and experience management.

So what can a company do today?  In some instances, the C level executive has the skills but not the bandwidth.  In others both the skilled experience and the bandwidth are missing.  In either case, there is just something missing and there is a gap between the required result and the ability to deliver it.  How does a company close this gap without the time and great expense of searching for and hiring full time the required expertise?

 

That is why I am writing this article!

The reason that we created Moon & Stars Consulting was to assist other companies to have access to the management experience that can be used in the short term to quickly fill this gap and be able to make the number.

How do we assist companies?  Working with the company team, we determine the key challenges and opportunities to deliver the number.  Then using our experience and perhaps that of other consultants with the strong Procter management training, we create the strategies, plans and the execution that will drive the marketplace results.

We know that this works because we have had success with hundreds of clients in addition to our Procter & Gamble businesses.

It is also very cost efficient, since you are getting significant expertise and only need use it in the short term until the plans are in place and generating success.  Not only are we really skilled at what we do, we are fun folks with whom to work.

For some of you, this may seem simplistic, but the ideas are important.  We would just like to support your efforts.  Let us know how we can help.  In any case please stay in touch.  We value our friends.

John Maver
Founder & Managing Director of Moon & Stars Consulting
President Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Branding, an Example

 

“You can trust Tide to get clothes clean.”

As an ex-Tide Brand Manager, yes some time ago, I was privy to the extensive world-wide research and branding effort that has been done by Procter & Gamble on laundry detergents and in particular for Tide.  Tide as you may know is one of the “family jewels” of Procter & Gamble.  It serves as an excellent example of how branding is developed and the results it can provide. 

 

Tide was launched in the 1940’s as the second laundry detergent after Oxydol.  It cleaned much cleaner than the soap powders and didn’t leave any residue.  In its earliest times, research showed that women wanted proof that it would generate great amounts of suds since that was the signal that it had cleaning power.  The message was “Tide Generates Oceans of Suds”.

   

     

Of course, the branding started with the product quality and its ability to deliver on its promise of getting clothes clean.  Procter & Gamble had many practical scientists and product development people working on this brand and still does.  Its efficacy has been unmatched in the minds of the consumers since its launch.

As you can see from the slogan that became the bedrock of Tide’s marketing, “You can trust Tide to get clothes clean”, the tone and emotion of trust was established.  Consumers came to know that when they used Tide it would get their clothes clean every time.  Tide became a reliable helper in the household chore of clothes washing.

Branding is much more than just product and positioning.  The packaging was an important part of Tide’s success.  The vibrant colors made the product stand out on the shelf.  The bull’s-eye reinforced the single minded positioning of cleaning.  In fact, packaging research has shown that consumers can identify the Tide package as Tide even without the word Tide across the bull’s-eye.

The brand quickly moved to market leadership.  This brought with it economies of scale, increased store merchandising and a premium price.

Today, there are many forms of Tide that can handle the current fabrics and washing machines.  Many other detergents have been wiped out as the brand’s share of the category has risen steadily to over 50%.

 

Strong branding is essential for companies to maximize the impact of their product investment.  If you don’t have the resources to develop and direct this effort you will need to get it.

Let us know how we might assist you.

 Thanks,

 John

John Maver
Founder and Managing Director of Moon & Stars Consulting
President Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Branding

 

 All companies and executives know about branding but many are not familiar with how to use it or how it can affect the bottom line.  Over the years P&G has become a master of this and has many multi-billion dollar brands as a result.  A strong branding strategy can increase the awareness of a company’s products in such a way that establishes strong feelings and reactions and a favorable view towards the company as a whole.  Successfully out-branding your competitors is a continuous battle for the hearts and minds of your customers.  The proposition your brand strategy makes must be very compelling, attractive and unique among competitive offerings.  Done correctly, branding is that extra margin that companies achieve over generics or even store brands.

 

Building on the inherent values of a brand should be the core of any branding strategy.  Winning brand strategies starts with top-notch research.  Your target customer will determine your success.  Research with consumers will identify needs and then it is up to your branding to make the fit of your offerings fill those needs.  Consistency is a key here, since all aspects of the branding must fit together.

Make it your mission to get as detailed information as possible on their age, gender, income, shopping habits (online and off) and anything else of relevance you can determine. If you’re targeting a business market, these criteria will differ, depending on the industry. Understanding your target market and what they want is key to developing a winning brand.

 
The research will lead to the brand promise.  It states the benefit of buying and using your company’s products or services.  A great deal of time and effort at Procter & Gamble is spent on finding the right promise and making it competitive so that it stands out in its industry or category.   They know that it must be specific because specific is exponentially more memorable.

Creating a positive emotional association in your market for your product or service is key. It can create want and desire by the mere mention of your brand, product or service name. Needless to say, that’s powerful. For instance, the mere mention of Tide detergent makes buyers think of clean clothes. 

To create a brand promise that creates such emotional connections, it should be:

1. Grounded in the brand’s core values.
2. Clearly relevant and engaging to your target market.
3. Able to create some sort of positive emotional attachment beyond just being “good”.
4. Adaptable to the business climate in terms of how the basic promise is presented although the promise itself does not change.
5. Continually reinforced and consistent across advertising and marketing.

 

It is clear that branding can make a significant difference in the success of a brand and a company.  Without intentional effort, unintentional positioning will occur and that can spell disaster.

 

The Moon & Stars team have had long experience and great success over the years with branding and have developed solid procedures to help clients.  We are happy to share these with you.

 

Thanks,

 John

John Maver
Founder and Managing Director of Moon & Stars Consulting
President Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management