Because it's such a huge part of the US and global economies, it's difficult for Procter & Gamble to untether itself from general trends even when that would be expedient. So when consumers worldwide are feeling up, down or iffy—with tentative growth in the US, slowing growth in China and negative "growth" in Europe—P&G executives are bound to feel the same way.

Thus P&G CEO Bob McDonald is having to explain the company's latest quarterly report as a glass half-full, with top-line growth a bit higher than expected, and bottom-line growth a bit lower. The company's huge brand stables in developed economies were mostly a drag, while developing markets give P&G some reasons for near-term optimism—such as Brazil, where it's about to begin shipping Ariel Pods in an effort to turn that country's laundry-detergent market upside down the way Tide Pods have in the United States.

"The market itself is rather choppy," McDonald told investors this week on a conference call. "We're in the midst of a recovery. The market's heading in one direction, but it's choppy."Continue reading...

P&G's Gain brand enrolled comedian and actress, Wanda Sykes, to help consumers find their perfect scent match.

On the brand's YouTube channel an interactive video questionnaire features Sykes as a virtual matchmaker ("like Cupid, for your nose!"), guiding users through a tongue-in-cheek personality test to determine the Gain variety scent best suited to their likes.Continue reading...

Anheuser-Busch InBev tries a tea-lemonade "light alcohol" drink for Michelob.

Ann Taylor woos younger women by featuring stylish students.

Avon replacing Andrea Jung as CEO.

Best Buy finds that deep discounts sacked profits.

Canadian Tire buys house in Toronto just for webisodes.

China plans to impose duties on U.S.-imported cars, ratcheting up trade tiff.

Chrysler picks up sales and financial momentum while parent Fiat treads cautiously.

CNN rehires Christiane Amanpour, who will continue to contribute to ABC News.Continue reading...

The Old Spice Guy isn't quite dead and buried yet. He made a new appearance today, of sorts — at the annual meeting of Procter & Gamble, where he was praised by company executives for helping boost fiscal-year growth.

The Old Spice Guy campaign, starring ex-footballer and rising actor Isaiah Mustafa, was cited by P&G in video vignettes (including the one above) that were played at the meeting in Cincinnati as a marketing coup that boosted interest in the brand, and sales, that contributed to organic growth of 4 percent and core profits of 8 percent for P&G during its fiscal year ended June 30.

"It's good but not yet great," P&G CEO Bob McDonald said about the company's financial results overall, according to the Business Courier Serving Greater Cincinnati. "We don't settle for 'good' in this company." Indeed. P&G didn't get to become the world's presiding CPG giant by settling for anything.Continue reading...

P&G has upped its F-commerce game with new Facebook stores for Tide, Gillette, Olay, Gain, CoverGirl, Luvs and Febreze, mixing social with detergents, cosmetics and diapers in a bid to fish where the fish are — and make it convenient for them to swim up to the checkout.

P&G's pilot store launched on Facebook last year, powered by Amazon, but now, the e-commerce functionality is being outsourced to PFSWeb's eStore, the CPG giant's independent online e-commerce site selling its branded products directly to consumers.

“Shop now” buttons on each brand page link to a retail page for e-commerce with a splash tab inviting fans to “Purchase on Facebook through these trusted retailers.”Continue reading...

Era is one of the lower-profile brands in the stable of laundry produced and marketed by Procter & Gamble, arguably the world's most prolific brand factory and marketer. On the value scale, Era is the lowest-price major detergent brand, often competing with private label store brands instead of with its siblings in P&G's Cheer, Gain and Tide brands.

But Era is no less important from a marketing perspective; in fact, P&G cut the brand's price more than a year ago to take advantage of value-hungry consumers who were trading down to less expensive detergents because of the weakened economy. Now, P&G has upped the Era ante with an ad campaign that, at first glance, seems to combine the detergent with an unlikely spokesperson — Chuck Norris.Continue reading...

Among the more interesting journeys to purpose-driven branding has been Procter & Gamble’s road. Under previous CEO A.G. Lafley, innovation was clearly the oft-spoken lifeblood of the company.

But now that current CEO Bob McDonald has had the reins for a while, “broader purpose” is the most important concept in the CPG giant’s cultural lexicon.

That priority, increasingly, is coming through in how P&G treats its brands, both globally and in “local” markets.Continue reading...