• Women’s Wear Daily, Friday, June 12, 2009 10:48 AM

Bob McDonald, Procter & Gamble's new CEO, plans to grow the company's beauty division both horizontally and vertically, and the industry is applauding the strategy, Andrea Nagel and Molly Prior write. Under A.J. Lafley's stewardship, P&G grew beauty, personal care and grooming to $28 billion in 2008, up from $9 billion in 2003, and its commitment to the segment has been continually underscored this week.

Ed Shirley, P&G's highly competitive vice chair of Global Beauty and Grooming, told investors at a conference in Paris that 16 of the firm's top 43 brands are in the beauty and grooming portfolio, and account for 85% percent of beauty and grooming sales and more than 90% of the profits.

Shirley says that consumers will be the focus of P&G's new strategy. "As a company of brands, historically the brands competed against one another ... it's a bit of survival of the fittest," he says. "There's an opportunity to think much more holistically [about the consumer]."

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