As of 2006, Procter & Gamble ( .pg.com) delivered prod-ucts under 300 brands to nearly ve billion consumers inmore than 140 countries around t e world. P&G employedabout 110,000 employees in ap roximately 80 countriesworldwide. Its revenues amounte to $56.7 billion in 2005.The company began operations in the United States in 1837

4.2 ProcteRes

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& Gamble: Using Marketinarch to Build Brands ;.

and has continued to expand its global operations,recently to Algeria. The stated purpose of the comp . -"provide products and services of superior quality an,that improve the lives of the world's consumers."

P&G is the number one U.S. maker of householucts, with nearly 300 brands in five main categories:

feminine, and family care; fabric and home e; beauty care;heath care; and food and beverage. P&G als makes, pet foodand water filters, and produces the soap ope s Guiding Lightand As the World Turns. TwelveofP&G's bands are billion-dollar sellers (Always/Whisper, Ariel, B unty, Charmin,Crest, Downy/Lenor, Folgers, lams, P pers, Pantene,Pringles, and Tide). The company purchas hair care giantClairol (Nice & Easy, Herbal Essences, Aus ie) from Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2001. The company acqu ed Well a AG inSeptember 2003". On January 28, 2005, P cter & Gambleannounced the largest acquisition in its hi ory,agreeing to .I buy Gillette in a $57 billion deal that cob ned some of the

! world's top brands.[ Over time Procter & Gamble has provet tor in creating brands and understanding c

ing extensive use of marketing research. B.been a cornerstone ofp&G's success. Theundertake. marketing research to determin

'"and then make sure everyone understand,; drives every decision made about the brand.

P&G thinks of marketing in many of same ways thatthey used to. They have always thought a ut the consumer

;,and why the product would be relevant to t consumer. They;, believe in catering to the experience of th consumer. Their~,principles of marketing haven't changed, b their methods of'targeting and identifying consumers have c ged to meet theincreasingly complicated consumer base. n the early daysP&G would mass market through television nd other sourcesbecause this was effective, at the time. T y have changedtheir key strategy from mass marketing to c sumer targeting.Marketing research has revealed targetin as the future ofbrand marketing and brand management. &G believes this

es much more than a focus group, and t ey want to spendime with consumers and understand thei behaviors. Theirarket research is so extensive that they en develop newroducts based on research to meet the emands of con-umers. P&G's innovative approach puts t consumer at theenter of everything they do. P&G has also ligned their busi-ess to go along with each brand. They ve integrated allepartments under each brand because the want consumerso think of the brand as a unified entity to provide themith an integrated experience,

IOne of the, areas 'that P&G researche constantly is the

n-store experience of the consumer. They ee this as anotheray of connecting with consumers and m . g their experience •better one. One of the ways they enhance is is by partneringith retailers and developing the in-store e erience to pleaseeir consumers. Pleasing the consumers as become morefficult today because the consumer has I ss time and morepectations. Packaging is also important i conveying ames .•ge to the consumer, It is a key challenge b ause labeling hasorne more complex and consumers are d anding more.The Internet is also becoming an im ortant marketing

search tool for P&G. They have i~crease the services they" , rovide on the Internet in order to reac out to more con-.sumers , This has proven effective, and th y have even usedthe Internet as their sole source for some marketing

to be aninnova-sumers by mak-lding brands hasarketers atP&Ga brand's equityit, because that

Icampaigns. They also use the Internet to gain new ideas and

I share them. throughout the company. ,P&G marketing has been innovative and i#QtJeeri~g over

the years, and one would expect the saIi1e'fi6rtr'ihefu in'thefuture. They are constantly Using marketuig'r~search to solve'the problems of today and to build brands that will.continue tobe leaders tomorrow. ' " ,,'

Questions1: Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping .

P&G build its various brands,2. P&G is considering further increasing its market share, Define

the management decision problem.3. Define an appropriate marketing research problem based on the

management decision problem you have identified.4. Formulate anappropriate research design to address the market-

ing research problem you have defined.S. Use the Internet to determine the market shares of the major

toothpaste brands for the last calendar year.6. What type of syndicate data will be useful in addressing the

marketing research problem?7. Discuss the role of qualitative research in helping P&G to

increase its share of the toothpaste market.8. P&G has developed a new toothpaste that provides tooth and

gum protection for 24 hours after each brushing. It would like todetermine consumers' response to this new toothpaste beforeintroducing it in the marketplace. If a survey is to be conductedto determine consumer, preferences, which survey methodshould be used and why?

9. What role can causal research play in helping P&G increase itsmarket share?

10. lllustrate the use of the primary type of scales in measuringconsumer preferences for toothpaste brands.

11. lllustrate the use of Likert, semantic differential, and Stapelscales in measuring consumer preferences for toothpaste brands.

12. Develop a questionnaire for assessing consumer p:referencesfortoothpaste brands.

13. What sampling plan should be adopted for the survey of ques-tion 8? How should the sample size be determined?

14. How would you recruit and train the field workers conductingthe survey of question 8?

15. According to the P&G vice' president of marketing, cavity andgum protection, whiteness of teeth, taste, fresh breath, and priceare all independent variables that affect the preference for atoothpaste brand, Assume that in a survey, each of the leadingtoothpaste brands is evaluated on each of the independent vari-ables using a 7-point scale with 1 = poor, and 7 = excellent 'Preference for toothpaste brands is also measmed on a 7-pointscale with 1 = not at all preferred, and 7 = greatly preferred.Each respondent rates Crest and three competing toothpastebrands on all the independent variables as well as brand prefer-ence. What s~tisticiU technique(s) would you use to answer the,following questions:a. Is brand preference related to each of the independent vari-

abies considered individually? What is the nature of the rela-tionship you expect?

b. Is brand preference related to all the independent variablesconsidered simultaneously?

c. Do the respondents evaluate the toothpastemore favorably oncavity and gumprotectionthan theydo on whitenessof teeth?

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d. The sample isdivided into two groups regular us~s of cres~and users of other brands. Do thes two groups differ interms of their ratings of Crest.on pric . I

e. The sample is divided into three grou : heavy, medium, andlight users of toothpaste. Do the thre groups differ in termJof preference for Crest? . . I·

f. Can the three groups of heavy, mediu and light users be dif-ferentiated in terms of their evaluation of Crest on cavity andgum protection; whiteness of teeth, te, fresh breath, andprice, when these variables are consid ed together? . I

g. Can the evaluations of Crest and its ompetitors on cavityand gum protection,' whiteness of te th, taste, fresh breath,and price be represented by a few un dying dimensions? I

h. Can the respondents be divided into latively homogeneousgroups based on their ratings of Crest the five factors? If so,into how many groups? .- I

i. Discuss the role of MDS in assessin consumer perceptionof toothpaste brands.

j. How would you treat missing values, suming that 15 percentof the respondents had missing data?

16. What charts would be useful in presenting' YOUT resultmanagement?

17. If marketing research to determine consumer prefer·toothpaste brands were to be conducted in Latin Arnewould the research process be different?

18. Discuss the ethical issues involved in researehing copreferences for toothpaste brands.

References1. www.pg.com, accessed on February 20, 2006.2. Chris Isidore, "P&G to Buy Gillette for $57B," on

http://monq.cnn.com/2005/01/28/newslfortune500/pg~iaccessed on September 3,2005.

3. Alan Mitchell, "Supermarkets Get the Message,' FinTimes (London) (May 17,2002) (Inside Track): 16.

4. Jack Neff,· "Humble Try: P&G's Stengel Studies TactiOther Advertisers-and Moms-in Bid to Boost MarkMuscle," Advertising Age (February 18,2002): 3. ."