Nothing is real at P&G, company insiders say, until it's in writing.

        It was a three-page memo from promotion department manager Neil McElroy in May 1931 that first committed to paper the responsibilities of the “brand man.”

        It was not an unprecedented idea. In the 1920s, General Motors Corp. president Alfred Sloan had created five divisions, trying to “make a car for every purse and purpose,” says former P&G chairman John Smale, who was on GM's board of directors after leaving P&G.

        P&G already was selling its own brands, but it had not dedicated one employee specifically to market one brand.

        “McElroy thought of a free-for-all among brands, with no holds barred,” P&G archivist Ed Rider says. “He was really responsible for the refinement of the system, which led to individual brands competing against one another.”

        Mr. McElroy's memo was written to support the idea of hiring more employees in P&G's Promotion Department. He wrote that the “brand man” should “take full responsibility” for every aspect of bringing the product to market, from budgeting to product development to sales.

        In a Time magazine cover story in October 1953, Mr. McElroy relished the idea that having P&G brands “dispute the claims of each other” would keep the company's sales force on their toes.

        For example, the introduction of Tide laundry detergent in 1946 hurt P&G's own Oxydol brand, and Mr. McElroy soon added Cheer to the mix as well.

        “At first,” he told the newsmagazine then, “some of the more conservative members of the company cringed at the idea of having a punch taken at ourselves by ourselves.”

        Mr. Smale says the brand-management aura has propagated one of the biggest myths about P&G, that it does nothing but influence consumers to buy the company's products.

        “P&G has always been misunderstood as a marketing company,” he former chairman says. “The fact is that P&G's fortunes have been built on product innovation. (Brand management) is an integral aspect of it, and it's the way the business is managed.”

Branded for success at P&G
1931 memo first devised role of the 'brand man'
Not all bumps painful
Pilots say rest, safety paramount
From theory to real life
Some tips for balance in work life
What's the Buzz?