Boardroom to basics for P&G brass

Two board members of Procter & Gamble, the global consumer goods giant, plan to visit the homes of consumers and traders of the company’s products here on April 15, as part of a general decision in this regard.

Kenneth Chenault, chief executive officer & chairman of American Express and Rajat Gupta, former managing director of McKinsey & Company, both on the P&G board, would visit India for a day, following the company’s global board meet in Singapore.

Both senior executives will be visiting the houses of some P&G consumers in Mumbai. The meets would be coordinated by the local P&G team, a person familiar with the development said.

Other members of the board, following the meet in Singapore, would head to neighbouring countries such as Thailand and the Philippines, the person said. Visits to some more countries in the Southeast Asian region are also in the pipeline.

The P&G board is said to be following in P&G president and chief executive officer Robert McDonald’s footsteps, as members seek a one-on-one interface with consumers and traders to get a grip on market realities in the region.

McDonald had repeatedly said, since taking over from A G Lafley last year, that emerging markets would be his thrust area as he looks to add one billion new consumers. Based in the US himself, he came to India two years earlier as chief operating officer, visiting consumer homes and trade establishments back then.

The maker of products like Vicks, Whisper, Pantene, Pampers and Tide, is planning to add more products to its portfolio in India. On the cards is the proposed launch of the company’s international toothpaste brand, Crest. Getting a first-hand feel of consumers does help, say company insiders.

At a broader level, however, making field trips such as these is becoming a bit of a habit with visiting global heads of fast moving consumer goods’ companies.

Paul Polman, chief executive officer of rival Unilever was the last visiting head to do so, during his three-day trip to India last month. Along with Hindustan Unilever’s non-executive chairman Harish Manwani and its managing director and chief executive officer Nitin Paranjpe, he did the rounds of consumer homes and retail outlets in the suburb of Vile Parle, to “better understand consumer behaviour”. During a press meet later, Polman said the exercise would be repeated in Thailand, Singapore and Australia.