The Generosity Crisis

CHAPTER 6Decoding Generosity

The Procter & Gamble Company is an old-fashioned US manufacturing powerhouse. P&G sold $76 billion worth of consumer goods in 2021, ranging from toothpaste and diapers to laundry detergent and shampoo. If you're one of the few Americans who don't have a house filled with P&G products, just journey down to the grocery store—you practically can't take a step without running into one of their well-known brands. In 2005 P&G acquired another brand to shore up its grooming category. That acquisition hasn't gone as planned.

THE SHAVING SHELLACKING

The company P&G added to its portfolio that year was Gillette, the world leader in shaving products. P&G paid about $57 billion to acquire Gillette and its century of customer loyalty and market dominance. For the first few years, the purchase seemed to pay off. Gillette's razors and personal care products generated high margin returns for its new corporate parent.

But the celebrations were not long-lived.

P&G was about to go through tough times. For one thing, shaving habits changed in the 2010s. More men began donning beards as they came back into fashion. Even those who didn't often preferred a scruffy look, meaning that especially young men were shaving less often and thereby buying fewer razors, cans of shaving cream, and related products. But new facial hair trends weren't the biggest hazard P&G ran into with Gillette. They were blindsided by the rise of low-cost internet offerings that upended the industry. ...