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July 2, 2021 Corner Office

Little guides Edgewell Personal Care’s products, company through cultural transformation

Since taking over as Edgewell Personal Care’s CEO in 2019, Rod Little has acquired several new brands and sold off another.
By Melissa Nicefaro

When Rod Little became president and CEO at Edgewell Personal Care in March 2019, he had a clear plan for taking the Shelton-based, publicly-traded company to the next level.

He would define the core business, shed products that didn’t fit, acquire those that did and unveil a cultural transformation.

In two years, Little said he has strengthened the value of core brands — which include Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Wet Ones, Playtex, Stayfree, Carefree, Schick, Wilkinson and Edge — simply by identifying which products were working and which were not.

“We were looking at the future strategy and focused on where we have the right to win and be successful and where we don't,” he said.

He did that by looking at competitors — specifically their intellectual property, technology scale, unique capabilities and even regulatory safety — and comparing them to Edgewell’s portfolio. The result in the two years that ensued was selling off the Diaper Genie line of products and acquiring Bulldog, Jack Black and Cremo, seeing the men's grooming business as a road to growth.

The core business now includes products in men's and women's grooming and sun care. Products are sold globally with about half of sales coming from outside of the U.S.

During Little’s first full fiscal year as CEO, which ended Sept. 30, 2020, Edgewell Personal Care reported $1.9 billion in revenue, which was down from $2.1 billion from a year earlier, mostly due to selling off the Diaper Genie infant product line.

However, the company significantly improved profitability, reporting net income of $67.6 million, reversing a $372.2 million loss in 2019.

As of Sept. 30, 2020, Edgewell Personal Care had approximately 5,800 employees, with 2,200 based in the U.S.

Edgewell’s stock price dipped during the pandemic, reaching a low of $21.17 in March 2020, but has bounced back strongly and is now over $40.

Cultural transformation

Strengthening the company also focused on the end consumer, determining the right amount of money to spend on marketing and raising the profit margin to retailers, Little said.

“For Banana Boat, it's a brand for a family that’s outside having fun,” Little said.

“The mom of a family is the target for that brand and she wants good faith ingredients, not to have to reapply frequently, it has to be a high-quality product that you can trust and then we look at having the right level of investment in marketing dollars. A couple of years ago, we weren’t spending enough on marketing.”

Once the core products were identified, Little’s focus shifted to a cultural transformation. Until 2015, the products that are now under Edgewell ownership were owned by Energizer Holdings in Missouri.

“Now we’re not owned by a company focused on batteries, we’re focused on products that you put on your body,” said Little, who was the company’s CFO before becoming CEO. “We had a town hall meeting at the Shelton headquarters and I asked our employees what the mission and values of the company were. Nobody could do it.”

So from that, a “why do we exist” set of values was born. After interviewing over 500 employees worldwide about what they wanted in a new set of values, the result was a simple purpose statement — make useful things joyful — and four values: people first, move forward, listen up/speak up, and own it together.

In Feb. 2020, Edgewell was set to acquire Harry's razors for $1.37 billion, when the Federal Trade Commission blocked the deal, arguing the new combination would eliminate one of the most important competitive forces in the shaving industry.

“When we got blocked by that, we already were working on this culture piece because with Harry’s, that was going to create a more modern, younger, hipper company,” Little said. “And then the pandemic hit, and it set the perfect time to drive the cultural transformation.”

Under Little’s leadership, the Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Wet Ones (though this could be also due to a new focus on cleanliness), Jack Black, Cremo, Bulldog, and Intuition brands have all returned to growth, he said

When he wasn’t bolstering professional cultural awareness or focusing on core products, he developed a new future corporate strategy, which includes launching and acquiring new brands in the core product lines.

“My vision is to create a modern personal care company, along with the purpose statement of making useful things joyful. That's something that takes time,” he said, referring to his 17 years at 185-year-old Procter & Gamble.

“When you think about being great, you've got to take a long-term view and you can't cut corners or cut something precious out of the brand,” he added. “You're taking a sharp blade to your body that if it's not constructed properly, it can cut you. And the feminine care products, you’re building a brand, a technology that 100% of the time has to be a great experience for the consumer.”

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