Environment Analysis
Industry Characteristics
Procter and Gamble’s main industry segment is that of consumer goods. It is a heavily saturated market that requires innovation and differentiation from other brands and competitors.
General Environment
Demographic Segment
According to Procter and Gamble’s “twelve billion-dollar brands”, it’s difficult to ascertain the market of P & G than that of worldwide. Its several product lines targets different age structures and genders. The products range from beauty and healthcare to household care which includes pet care and snacks as well as small appliances.
Technological Segment
According to the case study, P&G was one of the first companies to form full-fledged Product and Market Research Teams. As of 2001, under Alan Lafley, P&G established a “360 degree innovation strategy”. This encompassed commercial and technical groups working closely to understand the needs of the consumers. They also adopted an “open innovation” strategy which focussed on embracing collaboration, partnership and improving external relationships. As of today, this strategy is still in effect which involves not only 7500 odd scientists and engineers but all 138000 employees of Procter and Gamble to contribute towards innovation. P&G also innovates from external sources such as entrepreneurs by purchasing potentially technologically innovative products.
Sociocultural Segment
According to http://www.pg.com (Procter and Gamble’s Main Website), P&G ranks among the top companies for Executive Women (National Association for Female Executives), African Americans (Working Mother and Women of Color Magazines), Working Mothers (Working Mother Magazine), and Best Corporate Citizens (Business Ethics Magazine).
Procter and Gamble is also socially conscientious and has initiated several programmes in helping to solve global sustainability challenges. They have initiated programmes to assist low-income families in Latin America with respect to...