The Intersection of Data, Insights, AI & the Future of Marketing

So, uh, uh, technology s- really sounds like it's enabling you to transform the way you work.

It's improving the quality of the, you know, the insight i- that's being generated.

It's improving, uh, the work that you guys is doing, which is brilliant.

But y- you also not...

Y- you- you're also a very interesting company in that you're managing, you know, brands in very different markets around the world.

And Paul, P- P&G Cousins operates across very different markets, from the UK to Indonesia to Nigeria.

How do you stay locally relevant in those markets without completely reinventing the business every time?

Great question, Steve, and we use a term on a daily basis called building locally loved brands.

This is a company that has a bit of an eclectic portfolio.

There, there is n- no debate about that, and I think that's part of the DNA of the 150 years of the company.

I- i- it's Paterson and Zaconis, P and the Z, they were two gentlemens that, that started in, in the west s- side of Africa.

A- and I think we play into that now.

I think we're getting very comfortable with having those locally loved brands that have been a part of the fabric of these markets for decades.

We're, we're not a b- we're not a company that says we're gonna take one brand and stamp that in 50 countries.

So what we have to do is leverage where we can s- the scale of a James.

He's in Indonesia right now, and, and I view that as a lot of the how, right? So how do we go about the insights? How are we going about the brand building? How are we doing with the product? We have a global R&D team that, that definitely supports each of the markets.

So we're picking wisely where we can get some scale, and obviously h- that helps on the cost front.

We're not doing it to s- we're not gonna slow anything down, but at the end of the day, you know, the Morning Fresh that is the, that is in the hearts and the souls of the Nigerian consumers is Morning Fresh there, and it means something to them.

That's different than the one in Melbourne.

Of course, there's commonalities, and we're, we're gonna find that, and I think it, that ladders up to the category level, right? How, how do you understand dishwashing? How do you understand hand sanitizing? How do you understand children's personal care? Uh, and then we manifest that through our locally loved brands.

And James, you've talked about understanding what unites consumers versus what fundamentally differs market to market.

Could you give an example of how these local nuances completely change product design, comms or consumer behavior?

Yeah.

Uh, i- it, it's, it's fascinating 'cause you look at...

You take something like wash and bathing, big part of our business, right? You know, whether that be shower gel or, or, uh, body, hair and body wash or shampoo in, in, in, in, in Indonesia.

So, uh, uh, technology s- really sounds like it's enabling you to transform the way you work.

It's improving the quality of the, you know, the insight i- that's being generated.

It's improving, uh, the work that you guys is doing, which is brilliant.

But y- you also not...

Y- you- you're also a very interesting company in that you're managing, you know, brands in very different markets around the world.

And Paul, P- P&G Cousins operates across very different markets, from the UK to Indonesia to Nigeria.

How do you stay locally relevant in those markets without completely reinventing the business every time?

Great question, Steve, and we use a term on a daily basis called building locally loved brands.

This is a company that has a bit of an eclectic portfolio.

There, there is n- no debate about that, and I think that's part of the DNA of the 150 years of the company.

I- i- it's Paterson and Zaconis, P and the Z, they were two gentlemens that, that started in, in the west s- side of Africa.

A- and I think we play into that now.

I think we're getting very comfortable with having those locally loved brands that have been a part of the fabric of these markets for decades.

We're, we're not a b- we're not a company that says we're gonna take one brand and stamp that in 50 countries.

So what we have to do is leverage where we can s- the scale of a James.

He's in Indonesia right now, and, and I view that as a lot of the how, right? So how do we go about the insights? How are we going about the brand building? How are we doing with the product? We have a global R&D team that, that definitely supports each of the markets.

So we're picking wisely where we can get some scale, and obviously h- that helps on the cost front.

We're not doing it to s- we're not gonna slow anything down, but at the end of the day, you know, the Morning Fresh that is the, that is in the hearts and the souls of the Nigerian consumers is Morning Fresh there, and it means something to them.

That's different than the one in Melbourne.

Of course, there's commonalities, and we're, we're gonna find that, and I think it, that ladders up to the category level, right? How, how do you understand dishwashing? How do you understand hand sanitizing? How do you understand children's personal care? Uh, and then we manifest that through our locally loved brands.

And James, you've talked about understanding what unites consumers versus what fundamentally differs market to market.

Could you give an example of how these local nuances completely change product design, comms or consumer behavior?

Yeah.

Uh, i- it, it's, it's fascinating 'cause you look at...

You take something like wash and bathing, big part of our business, right? You know, whether that be shower gel or, or, uh, body, hair and body wash or shampoo in, in, in, in, in Indonesia.