• Wall Street Journal (subscription only), Tuesday, June 9, 2009 11 AM

Ellen Byron breaks the story that the Procter & Gamble board will approve the appointment of COO Robert McDonald, 55, as CEO today, replacing A.G. Lafley, 61, whose tenure stretches back to June 2000. Lafley, who is widely credited with revitalizing P&G, will remain chairman of the company. The moves, which a P&G spokeswoman would not confirm, will reportedly take place on July 1.

McDonald will have to guide a recent strategy at odds with the time-tested secret of P&G's success, Byron points out. The recession is testing its traditional approach of convincing consumers to pay more for "new and improved" features, and each business at P&G is working to reach more consumers by widening the price range of its products. Cheaper brands such as Luvs diapers and Gain detergent have outpaced sales increases of premium-priced sister brands, Pampers and Tide, for example.

In another article, John Jannarone traces P&G's late entry into the value-driven sweepstakes and wonders if it was the correct move. While it should gain share, its margins will suffer, he says, so it will either have to sell a lot more products or have a convincing argument that will drive consumers back to premium brands when the recession lifts.

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