Company Case Study: New P&G CEO Bob McDonald on How to Improve Lives for People Who Cannot Afford Products

Here is a great case study example of how P&G  found a way to improve lives and save water for consumers in the  Philippines with the innovation of a product called Downy Single Rinse:

From Forbes: On the Call: P&G CEO Bob McDonald

Associated Press, 08.05.09,

“The Procter & Gamble Co. uses a slogan that its consumer products touch and improve lives. Traditionally, that’s meant with “new and improved” innovations of Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste and other products.

But the company is pushing to increase sales in developing countries where per capita incomes are far below U.S. consumers, in a global recession. Bob McDonald, who took over July 1 as CEO, discussed the challenge in P&G’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call with analysts.

QUESTION:

I know you want to change lives, but what if people can’t afford to change their lives?

RESPONSE:

One of the things we’ve learned is that, in order to improve the lives of people that tend to be toward the bottom of the economic pyramid, you have to innovate for the best consumer experience for those people. It’s not a matter of trickling down higher-tier technology.

A great example of that is Downy Single Rinse, which we began developing in the Philippines some years ago. This was an opportunity for Filipino consumers who rinse their clothes five times with clear water in order to get rid of the soap, to use a product that added fragrance, some degree of softness, but also, importantly, sequestered the suds that were in the water and allowed them to go from five rinses to one.

And basically, the product pays for itself because of the water that they save.”