Corporations: Mr. Hard Sell

When it comes to creating the worlds of fantasy in which U.S. companies sell their products on TV, the Colgate-Palmolive Co. seems to hold the current lead. Hundreds of times a week its “White Tornado” whirls like a dervish across the nation’s TV screens, and its “White Knight” charges about banishing dirt miraculously with a touch of his trusty lance. Colgate also has an Action “Giant” who reaches a muscular arm right out of the washing machine before awestruck housewives, most of whom are blissfully unaware of the Freudian predilections of Madison Avenue.

This bizarre collection of hard-selling creatures all work for—and owe their existence to—a rather harmless-looking fellow named George Lesch, Colgate’s president. While not exactly a white knight, Lesch, 55, has certainly proved to be something of a whirling tornado at the U.S.’s second largest soap company (first: Procter & Gamble).

Search for Food. Since Lesch became president in 1960, Colgate has introduced such successful new products as Baggies plastic bags, Halo hair spray, Ajax detergent powder, and half a dozen others th#t now account for 15% of its annual sales of $800 million. Colgate is testing freeze-dry foods with a view to jumping into the food field, is searching to acquire a food company. This week, battling to regain the top of the U.S. toothpaste market that it lost to Procter & Gamble’s Crest, it began national marketing of a white-colored, mint-tasting, fluoridated toothpaste called Cue; like Crest, the new paste has won the valuable seal of “recognition” from the American Dental Association.

The big burst of activity in a company whose U.S. sales had been stagnant for years until Lesch took over, is what might be expected of Mr. Hard Sell. An accountant who rose through the international division, which rings up 53% of the company’s sales, Lesch has personally rung doorbells to interview housewives from Bangkok to San Diego, has sold Colgate’s Fab to Mexican villagers by rolling up his sleeves to show them that they could even use it to wash clothes in streams. His first act as Colgate president was to drop out of sight for three months while he toured the U.S. asking store managers and housewives for suggestions. That tour convinced him that Colgate had to bring out many more new products—even at the cost of some profits.

Executives Out. Lesch set up a number of “invention groups,” increased the annual product-development budget from $8,000,000 to $28 million—and helped to pay the bill by cutting the salaried force by 10% to 15%. Some critical ex-executives complain that under Lesch, Colgate’s middle managers are overworked and insecure, and that the company’s profits have yet to top the 1959 record of $25 million. At the same time, Lesch gets credit from the trade for having brought out so many new products with catchy names and clever promotions—two of the essentials for success in the soap business. In any case, Lesch’s decision to put promotion ahead of profits for his early years seems to be paying off. In 1964’s first nine months, Colgate’s earnings rose 8%—to $19 million.