• Cincinnati Enquirer, Monday, May 11, 2009 10:45 AM

P&G plans to more than double its sales to $175 billion over the next 15 years by making a major push into countries that don't yet buy detergent, shampoo, diapers and razors in the same quantities as U.S. consumers do, if they buy such products at all, David Holthaus reports. India, most of Africa, much of Eastern Europe and the Middle East are the target areas.

About 90% of the world's babies are born in these developing markets, demographics that have not escaped the attention of P&G executives. "P&G's center of gravity will shift toward developing markets," says COO Robert McDonald. "There's more potential in these markets to get people to use our products than there is to take market share from our competitors."

P&G tries to position itself as a local company, investing in the economy and hiring local workers, to overcome criticism that it's just a giant U.S. corporation spreading American-style consumerism. And to overcome the target consumers' lack of income, it has developed small sachets of shampoo or detergent, good for one or two uses that build loyalty and actually carry profit margins that can be higher than standard-size products.

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