Rising Tide
Lessons from 165 years of brand building at Proctor & Gamble
By Davis Dyer, Frederick Dalzell, Rowena Olegario. Published by Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 2004. 467 pages. RRP $54.95 (hc).
ISBN 1 59139 147 4.
I WONDER if Australian marketers know that their love affairs with their brands go back to a 19th-century Cincinnati factory where two friends joined forces in 1837 to make a soap that floats.
Rising Tide is the story of the rise and rise of Proctor & Gamble, one of the world's largest and most influential companies and the owner of billion-dollar brands that are consumed by millions of people every year.
The book traces the Proctor & Gamble story from 1837, when the company started, to its present-day global empire. Along the way it takes a behind-the-scenes look at its famous products - Ivory soap, Tide detergent, Folgers coffee, Crest toothpaste, Pampers disposable nappies, Oil of Olay, Pantene shampoo and others.
The company would be remarkable just for surviving 165 years. What makes it amazing is its consistent success. Through a disciplined, painstaking and thorough journey it has virtually written the book on modern manufacturing, distribution, advertising, product development and market research.
Proctor & Gamble led the way in areas we simply take for granted. It pioneered radio advertising in the 1920s and then, in the early 1950s, ventured into the unknown world of television. It trailblazed in consumer research and test marketing. Its factories invented new technologies and introduced worker practices such as profit sharing and team-based manufacturing.
After 467 pages, the authors select 10 principles responsible for the company's success:
• Always act ethically with your workforce, suppliers, customers and community.
• Cultivate a passion for winning: not only for the next blockbuster brand but for the older brands that can be made to yield incremental gains, time after time.
• Remember the boss. Respect customer preferences and change with their tastes.
• Individuals make a difference. Value the maverick as well as the team player.
• Discipline, discipline, discipline. Continually test, research, experiment.
• Innovate constantly.
• Lead the change and cultivate a restless dissatisfaction with the status quo.
• Look for partnerships in new markets and when introducing new technologies.
• Recognise the two moments of truth in the customers' experience: when they first choose your product, and when they first use your product.
How interesting can a book on soap powders, cooking oil, hygiene products and organisational charts be? Well, as it turns out, it can be totally engaging. A must-read for all experienced and aspiring brand managers.
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