Proctor and Gamble in SA
Aug 20 2009
Retail Wrap >>

Procter & Gamble this week selected PODatGREY as its shopper-marketing agency in South Africa after a four-way pitch. PODatGREY, the brand engagement offering at Grey SA, will provide multinational P&G with a full service from strategy, creative, through to execution and implementation. The company will also draw on the experience of its EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) colleagues at G2. 

Sheila McGillivray and Di Wilson, joint MDs of PODatGREY say, "We are delighted with the appointment and recognise the vital role shopper marketing plays in gaining traction and brand affinity. It is no longer from TV to till but from till to TV. This pitch was instrumental in demonstrating that the experience that we have accumulated over the past 10 years in shopper marketing not only secured the joint venture with Grey but has delivered the most coveted shopper marketing account."

Procter & Gamble's brands include Pampers, Gillette, Pringles and Duracell. The company. The US consumer goods giant entered South Africa in 1994. In March this year it announced that it would be establishing capacity in SA for the manufacture of disposable nappies, through a R200m investment in a plant in Kempton Park.

About 35 South African engineers were trained in Poland and Turkey to head up the plant, which at the time employed 75 full-time staff and 40 people indirectly. The figure as set to increase to more than 150 over the next two years.

The investment was in part clinched by a decision by the International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) to grant rebates on the import duties of inputs needed for the manufacture of the nappies.

With annual turnover in excess of US$83bn, Procter & Gamble is the world's top producer of consumer goods. However, its manufacturing footprint on the African continent was previously limited to the north and west, with plants in Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco.

Adapted from source: www.retailbuzcommunity.com, 10 March & 18 August 2009