I started working with Reckitt Benckiser (RB) when I was selected for the summer internship while I was studying at IIM (K). After my graduation I had no doubts that, if given a chance, I’d definitely join RB as a full-time employee. And as fate would have it, I did get my Pre-Placement Offer (PPO) from RB and I readily agreed to go back there and continue with the awesome work that I had done during my internship.

My first project with RB was ‘Clearasil’. I had never been a sales guy and I was quite new to it all. During one of my field visits when I was in sales, it was just amazing to see the salesmen feeling so passionate about their products. They actually believe in RB which results in a better performance. Their loyalty towards the brand was a lesson in itself for me.

It has been around 30 months now that I have been working with RB and I have not experienced a single boring day here. ‘Challenging’ is the word that describes this place perfectly. The whole environment is so charged that it always keeps you on your toes and you feel alive. This place is not for the kinds who are satisfied with just mediocrity; anyone working with RB knows that one can never take things for granted and  needs to keep up with its fast pace. This keeps the whole environment interesting and it never gets monotonous here.

At RB you feel like working NOT because someone asked you to do so but you actually feel like doing it. And that’s a great thing and keeps the level of job satisfaction at its peak. And well, from personal experience I would say that this place is just brilliant for anyone who is new in the industry. If they get this sort of an experience in their initial years, they’ll surely go places in the future.

Another thing I really love about RB is the work culture here, which is pretty chilled out. Regular parties keep happening; it is a kind of a reward for employees for all their efforts. And another big event which everyone just loves is the Annual Conference. This year it will be my third time there and I am really looking forward to meeting everyone.

Working with RB does not make you feel like you’re just doing a ‘job’. You actually feel like a part of the RB family. There are no strict dress-codes, everyone from different levels are treated equally. At the end of the day all these factors really do matter as it makes it easy for everyone to communicate with each other without any inhibitions. And communication is a really important part of the success of any organisation, and many, in fact, struggle to keep that streamlined.

In the end I’d say that working with RB has been great and I look forward to many more amazing years.

I never thought I would get to write that as a headline – but that’s exactly what happened in Chennai this month! Working in the scientific services group, one of our roles is to support claims, demonstrations and approve marketing communications for the brands we support. Demonstrations are a really powerful tool in communicating with our consumer. It’s easy to be sceptical about claims made in TV advertising, it’s a lot harder to disregard when you see it with your own eyes!

This month marketing organised a “Great stain-off” which included use of a 20foot cloth, lots of messy stains and numerous packs of Vanish! We invited residents to throw wine, iodine, ketchup, juices, tea and coffee at 4 targets on our 20ft cloth. 3 stains successfully within the target won residents a prize – I’m sure you can guess what that was !

After a messy hour, the yellow cloth was looking a bit worse for wear and it was definitely time to bring out the Vanish. Taking half the cloth for washing, residents looked on as Vanish got to work. Everyone was intrigued by the oxygen action you could see and had lots of burning questions. The Grande finale was revealed when washing was complete and the cloth was hung next to its messy counterpart.

I think the results speak for themselves!

I guess the most important question for a brand team is: who buys our products?

It’s time to change your toys? One of Durex’s ads displayed alongside our product range in our Mannheim Germany office

It seems to be a very simple and down to earth question at first, but you’ll be surprised at how tough it is when you try to answer it. So one afternoon the Durex brand team sat down to try and figure out who actually buys our products and the ones from our competitors. Similarly, how does our target group differ from the one of our competitors? And if we knew this, is it then possible to make assumptions of how we can expand our product portfolio to satisfy the needs of our competitors’ target groups?

The debate already started when we decided on the method of analyzing: bottom-up or top-down? Do we discuss each product and derive ‘the perfect consumer’ with her/his specific needs? For example do men and women differ when it comes to condoms? Do people in relationships or singletons purchase different condoms? Or does it just depend on each individual consumer’s characteristics and not on their ‘life situation’?

Or does it go more like this: How many people in Germany are in between the age of 15 and 65? How often do they have sex per week/month? And how often do they purchase condoms?

At the end of the day both research methods have their pros and cons. And we did not come to a final statement or to a final research question, unfortunately. But I guess that some things DO take time (although in the FMCG universe, we’re all about being really fast, fast, fast!). And since the consumer is the most essential building block of our Durex brand, there need to be a hell lot more hours and brainstorming invested into analyzing. Before I started at RB, it always seemed so obvious that brands knew about who their consumers are. I guess now that I’ve experienced what marketing is, I guess this is only partly true and it actually requires a lot of hard work. But all this hard work all ends up in opening new possibilities.

Our finding of the day: We need support from our sexual & wellbeing category department to see how best to brief market research agencies and how to structure surveys – “dry” stuff perhaps, but definitly necessary!

Some of Durex’s product range in Germany

Hello all, the reason for my absence from my blogging duties is because I have been in Hawaii!

Yes, living it up in the sun, sand and sea… and attending the Australian commercial business 2011 conference!

A big part of RB’s culture here in Aus is celebrating our achievements, and as we are on-track to deliver net revenue growth in the teens vs. last year, we were in for a well-deserved celebration.

The conference began with our arrival at our hotel, the Westin Moana Surfrider in Waikiki where all the girls hopped straight into a limo and off for an afternoon of shopping! We then arrived back at the hotel for a Hawaiian beach party where we were able to meet and greet our fellow colleagues from around Australia. As a graduate, this was a great opportunity for me to catch up with old colleagues from my time on the field, and meet some new people at RB!

The team gets into the spirit!

Day 2 – we all filled into the auditorium for the official conference welcome from Sandy (Aus. Sales Director) and Chris (Aus. Marketing The team On top of the world in Hawaii! Director), and had the opportunity to present to the business what each team had been up to for the past 10 months, and what our plans are for 2012. It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to stand up on stage with my team and present to over 150+ people (also quite nerve-racking!) however it added to my confidence for future presentations andhelped to build my profile within the business.

That night was by far the best of all – Rock and Roll! The costumes were awesome, even Lindsay, the Australian Regional Director got on board! Just goes to show the great team spirit within the Australia business, and that we are all treated as equals.

On top of the world in Hawaii...woohoo!

Day 3 – there may have been a few sore heads, but that didn’t stop the team getting on board for our activity day. From golf to hiking and biking, there was an activity to suit everyone in the diverse team. I went on ahike, bike, sail and swim tour. It was a really nice day which I got to spend with some great friends at RB, whilst also coming out with some new friends after spending the day with the group.

Day 4 - team building day – this was by far the best team building activity I have ever participated in! We were placed into random teams and challenged to build a boat out of cardboard, tape and plastic, then in true RB style we had to race our boats into the surf. It was definitely a challenge trying to waterproof cardboard – with some teams successful in doing the opposite. My team did a great job of working together to build our solid boat and beat the competition in our race! In this activity I was able to form new relationships with colleagues I have never had the opportunity to work with before, and gain some valuable insights from their roles within RB.

One of the more elaborate constructions?

The 4 days were an absolute blast, culminating in a formal dinner at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. It was nice to dress up and celebrate with the whole team, sharing in each others experiences over the last 4 days. It was definitely sad to leave Hawaii, but exciting in that I had met so many new people and felt refreshed and ready to conquer the hustle and bustle of the RB world once again!

The Australian Germ Team! Remember us when you buy your next Dettol…

Before…
As many of you will know, the assessment for RBs graduate scheme spans several interviews and assessment days. At each, you get to understand a little more about RB culture from third parties and our employees themselves.

The more I got to know about the RB culture the more I was excited by it… except for one niggling word which kept creeping up, AGRESSION. At first it wasn’t a word I dwelled on, but the further into the recruitment process I got, the more and more I heard of it. This was the only aspect of RB culture which worried me slightly – I had visions of a working environment with little respect for colleagues, where people didn’t listen to each other and where the common method of communication was shouting. OK so that might be a little melodramatic – but it definitely made me wonder!

After…
Phew, well after I started I truly got to understand what our ‘Aggressive’ culture means and I would now also agree; YES we do have an aggressive culture, but definitely in a good way. Constructive aggression!

What it means for Individuals
I believe what ‘Aggression’ means for employees is that we are not accepting; we will question decisions and strive for better processes. We will push projects, driving them forward ourselves and challenge delays. We are risk takers and happy to make and follow our own decisions for which we are accountable.

What is means for the Company
RB has an aggressive market strategy; we aim to deliver products from concept to shelf in less than 3 years. From my experience this can be as little as 6 months, as for our Airwick colour change candle. A fast to market strategy means we launch before competitors and reap maximum profit.

The company expects results from you regardless, there are no passengers!

Are you ready to be accountable?