18. Bob Viney

Perhaps no single story captures the essence of the strength of many of Procter & Gamble’s (P&G’s) values more than the twisting and turning one that tells how the company breathed new life into its flagship brand at a critical point for the business. In just a couple of years, a blend of globally sourced technology innovations, heightened collaboration, and risk-taking leadership snapped Tide out of a decade-long sales sleep and dressed it for fresh success—going on to become the company’s first billion-dollar brand.

Bob Viney had a close-up view of the process as an integral part of the team that came together to enact P&G’s belief that brands don’t have to die. Although others in business see a natural four-step life cycle for brands—launch, growth, maturity, decline—P&G has always contended that new life can be found. But that seemed a stretch in the early 1980s, with Tide sales stagnant for a decade after leading the laundry detergent market since its introduction in 1946. The oil and gas shortages of the 1970s, raising the cost of the petroleum-based chemicals used in Tide, had prompted a focus on cutting formulation costs. But that led to reduced cleaning performance, which had always been Tide’s competitive advantage. Meanwhile, environmental co....