DISCUSSION TOPIC: P&G CEO Advises Candidates to Stay Positive
TOPIC SUMMARY:
Procter & Gamble’s chairman and chief executive A.G. Lafley wants the future President of the United States, whomever that may turn out to be, to remember that there is a psychological component to economic performance and that it’s important now that Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are running for the nation’s top office that they remember to stay positive about the underlying strength of the American economy.
“You know we are in a business where psychology matters – even in the staples business – and in the economy psychology matters,” Mr. Lafley told the Financial Times. “It could go negative on the economy, that could be a problem … We will talk ourselves into a worse recession.”
Discussion questions: How critical is the psychological component to consumer spending? Is a strong retailing environment a by-product of consumer optimism and, conversely, are periods of weak sales created by shopper pessimism?
My post: This is such an important topic. The crisis of faith in the American economy today is a combination of real issues, perceived issues, and the basic mistrust of our current president and his government’s ability to tell the truth and/or do anything meaningful to make a positive difference.
The new president (I believe it will be Obama) will have an incredible opportunity to demonstrate trustworthiness and speak with clarity and power of his vision of an improved American economy and place in the world. I am quite optimistic that after 8 years of a disaster presidency, that our new president (again, likely Obama) will lead us to both perceived and actual improvements in our economy and our faith in our individual and collective futures and the place America will have in the world economy.
It is perfectly OK for Lafley to publicly ask our next president to work the psychology of consumer sentiment and build a vision for a better future. Kennedy did it, Reagan did it – watch Obama do it next!
Mike Osorio, your Dare to be Contagious! TM strategist
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Go to the full discussion at RetailWire.com:
http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/13058
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