Procter Gamble & accelerates pace of releases

The American Procter Gamble & (P&G) was a company with a small portfolio and little known in Brazil, when the Pernambuco engineer Alberto Carvalho left the country, fifteen years ago, to take various positions in multinational offices in South America and in the United States.
In the last ten years, the Brazilian operation has multiplied by seven and achieved revenues of about $ 4.5 billion, according to market estimates. To maintain the momentum of growth, which reached 32% in the last fiscal year (ended June 2012), oak, new President of P&G in Brazil, wants to decrease the gap between the release of a product out there and his debut in the country.
In the fiscal year that ends next month, the Brazilian operation will register record growth, according to Oak. "I think that consumption is still very strong in Brazil, and I see no reason to slow down the growth of P&G today," he says. The current villain, inflation worries? "Not much, if you get in that level of 4% to 6%. If begins to accelerate too much is a danger not only for us but for Brazil. But I think we're far from it, "he says.
"My focus, given the condition that we have in the market today, consumers who aspire to better products, is now P&G innovations bring much faster than we had before. And we've already started to do this, "says Carvalho. Before taking office in December, was Executive Vice President of Gillette. In this position, helped bring the Fusion Proglide razor, the newest of the line item. Carvalho still cites as examples the line hair care Expert Pantene and lava capsules-Ariel brand clothing. Both will be launched in the Brazilian market in the next few weeks, between six months and one year after the premiere at the American market. "If it were then the previous model, it would take many years," he says.
The P&G also has increased its releases in recent years. The company predicts finishing the fiscal year 2013, in June, with 200 releases in the country. Two years earlier, were 94. "In Brazil, we could not bring these innovations, because they had to be more affordable products. Now the Brazilian is ready and we can resume our brands and always bring new technologies, "says Carvalho. He is the first Brazilian to lead the national operation of the company.
The goal is to bring oak, every one or two years, a new category of products. Over the past two years, were two, with the arrival of the creams Olay and Febreze air fresheners. The company also extended the offer of the Oral-B brand, before concentrated in toothbrushes, with folders and Tooth whiteners. Sales of whitening strips overcame five times the initial expectations of the company. "Often people confuse and think that means emerging low-value products. We have to know how to work the entire portfolio, since products more accessible to the ' top ' of the line, "says Carvalho, who has presided over P&G's operations in Chile and in the Southern Cone.
In the category of washing clothes, the launch of capsules ("pods") Ariel wants to create a new segment in Brazil. A single product promises to washing, bleaching and remove stains. The corresponding American market was launched a year ago with the Tide. The package with up to 14 capsules washes will cost $ 18. "We've done studies and has a market segment that is already ready for it, in fact, is already asking," says Carvalho. According to the Executive, both consumers of laundry detergent liquid may migrate to the new product. Today, the net segment, more expensive and that promises better performance, is the fastest growing in the country.
Ch succeeds Egyptian Tarek Farahat, who directed the P&G in Brazil for six years and was assigned to command the Latin American operations of the company. During the management of Farahat, the company, which was not among the 30 major advertisers of Brazil, became the seventh biggest, with investments of r $ 372 million in 2011, according to Projeto Inter-media (the anglo-Dutch competitor Unilever is the second largest, with R $ 995 million in the same period). Eight new brands have arrived to the country under the leadership of Farahat, and sales accelerated from an average of 12% between 2006 and 2009 to 28% in 2011 and 32% in 2012.
If Farahat was known as a marketing man, to hire celebrities such as Bill Murray, Luciano Huck and Angelica as "brand ambassadors" and Gisele Bündchen as poster girl, Carvalho already know how wants to be remembered. "This is what I want it to be my trademark: the innovation of P&G in Brazil," he says.
To sustain robust growth, are underway to build a new plant in Seropédica (RJ) and the expansion of distribution center in Itatiaia (RJ) and the company's factories in Louveira (SP) and Manaus. But the expansion will not stop there. "We are looking at several opportunities, including of course the Northeast, which is a region that grows the accelerated levels in relation to the national average," says Carvalho. According to the Executive, the company evaluates several States, including those in which already has facilities. Today, 80% of the company's portfolio is produced in the country.
Unilever, maker of Silk shampoo, toothpaste Close Up SOAP and Omo, also invests in local production and will build its 10th factory in the country, in Cascavel (SP). Kimberly-Clark Huggies diapers, Turma da Mônica, prepares to inaugurate its first plant in the Northeast, in Camaçari (BA).