For a brief period in my career, I worked on some P&G brands. For an advertising professional, it is a great platform for learning. The P&G mega-talented managers epitomized process-driven approach to advertising and were extremely demanding of their agency executives. Sometimes this approach can be taken to the extreme leading to splitting hairs over every little aspect of advertising. I remember P&G executives having set views on advertising (product must be introduced within a specific period into the TVC, protagonist must be shown using the product, there must be audi-video synch i.e what is shown must be said etc.). No wonder that a few years ago P&G advertising was seen as formulaic & run-of-the-mill (not any more though). The corporate culture of P&G was so rigid, employees jokingly called themselves “Proctoids”.
On the other end of the spectrum is Google. My perception – not different from other outsiders I guess – is that of a company that is ‘casual smart’ where employees are allowed to bring their pets and have fun at work.
News is just in that Proctoids and Googlers in the US have begun swapping employees in a bid to learn more about each other and gain from these interactions. What a fantastic idea! Both have a lot to gain from these interactions and is worthy of emulation across the world by other companies. Will they now be called Pooglers & Groctoids as this article asked? Any likely candidate companies in India that come to mind? An agency and its client?
