• Ad Age, Tuesday, February 16, 2010 8:26 AM

When Procter & Gamble acquired Gillette five years ago, the then-leaders of both companies ballyhooed the deal as a historic blockbuster that not only would yield "reverse synergies" but also add a point to the company's annual growth. It hasn't happened that way, Jack Neff reports -- in fact, by all appearances, the deal has been a drag on earnings, new products have had, at best, mixed results, and many former Gillette execs have departed.

But what outsiders don't see, some top insiders suggest, are qualities that are not all that quantifiable. They credit the deal with fostering aggressive moves in markets such as Brazil and India; much stronger Europe and U.S. results; a growing expertise in sports marketing and faster internal decision making. And that's before the Fusion ProGlide launches in June.

P&G has also learned a lot about efficiency and executing promotional programs at retail, according to Ali Dibadj, a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst who worked on the P&G-Gillette integration as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. "A lot of the senior management obviously did not stick around, but the people who did stick around [such as current P&G vice chairman Ed Shirley] are extraordinarily high quality."

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