Former P&G marketing chief sets up agency

Procter & Gamble’s recently departed chief marketing officer, Jim Stengel, is starting up his own agency. The new company, Jim Stengel LLC, will focus on “purpose-based” marketing.

Stengel, who had a 25-year career with the packaged goods giant, says the agency will develop a new way of working with companies by defining what they do and how they can make their customers’ lives better.

He claims that trust in brands is at an “all-time low” and that they should take on a new, broader approach to their customers. Stengel points to P&G’s Pampers as a brand that has successfully communicated a “higher purpose” in giving parents advice on health and happiness, rather than simply stating the efficacy of the nappy products.

Stengel is funding the venture himself and says he already has some clients onboard. He adds however that the companies he can work for is constrained by a three-year non-compete agreement with P&G.

Stengel announced he was stepping down as P&G’s chief marketing officer in July. Marc Pritchard, P&G’s president of strategy, productivity and growth formally took over Stengel’s role on November 1.