In the late 1980s, P&G management made a significant change in its brand management
structure to improve coordination and efficiency. Multiple brands were combined into product
categories, under the responsibility of a category manager, who managed individual brands as part
of the overall category portfolio. For more than 50 years, the brand management approach had
served P&G well, and the company had been recognized as the benchmark for excellence in brand
management. The introduction of category management was a dramatic shift for a company that
had pioneered brand management in the 1930s.