International Expansion

Procter & Gamble first became an international company in 1930 with their acquisition of Thomas Hedley Co., an English company.  Procter & Gamble sells their products in 180 countries around the world.  Their Global Business Units consist of beauty & grooming and household care.  With its strong international presence, in countries where people can make as little as $2 a day, a new perspective needed to be found.  P&G launched a skunkworks to approach this demographic of their customers.  The market for developing countries is growing at a much larger rate than that of developed countries, 6% to 8% annually versus 1% to 2%.  P&G also relies on something called "mass prestige" that capitalizes on the middle and upper classes that purchase Procter & Gamble products like Tide, Crest, and Max Factor.  I think that P&G's strategies relating to pursuing the developing markets since the recession yet still relying on the middle and upper class markets is a great balance to have.  "It's a myth to say poor people only want function," says Graulty, who has headed P&G's $2-a-day initiative since October 2009. "They care about beauty. Just like us." (P&G and the $2 a day market)