Few actually achieve what L V Vaidyanathan has accomplished in the world of business. The 50-year-old corporate executive began his career as an intern at Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) India way back in 1995. In July 2022, Mr Vaidyanathan took over as the CEO of P&G India after an illustrious career spanning various roles and positions at the US fast-moving consumer goods giant.

Just before assuming the role at P&G India, Mr Vaidyanathan, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, was the CEO of P&G Indonesia. The top executive – who also holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from National Institute of Technology, Nagpur – has a rich experience of over 25 years across multiple global markets.

After completing his internship, in 1996, young Vaidyanathan joined the sales team of the company in India. He worked in various leadership roles before being promoted as managing director of P&G India. His first international assignment came in 2004 in P&G Vietnam, where he worked as sales director. Between 2007 and 2018, Mr Vaidyanathan worked in top positions in the company in the ASEAN region, including head of sales for South-East Asia and head of marketing and commercial for the Philippines. In 2018, he was elevated to the role of CEO of P&G Indonesia. Then, in 2022, he returned to India.

Mr Vaidyanathan, who often starts his day with long runs or Yoga, has been equally working hard to further expand P&G’s business. At P&G Indonesia, in the four years that he was at the helm, Mr Vaidyanathan transformed its operations to contribute a greater share of Indonesian business to P&G’s global revenues. He also put in place several winning strategies to enable P&G Indonesia to overtake its formidable competitors.

For almost two years now, Mr Vaidyanathan is replicating his earlier plans and strategies to push P&G India’s business to a higher scale. P&G India operates through two listed companies – P&G Hygiene & Health Care (operating in feminine hygiene and other personal-care segments with brands like Whisper and Vicks) and Gillette India (grooming and oral-care brands such as Gillette, Olay and Oral-B). The FMCG company also has two unlisted entities – P&G Home Products (detergents and hair-care brands like Ariel and Pantene) and P&G Healthcare (vitamin supplements like Seven Seas, Neurobion and cough syrup Cosome).

With consolidated revenue of over Rs 15,000 crore, P&G India has seen modest growth in India at 10 per cent compound annual growth rate in the last five years. It is the second-largest home- and personal- care player after Hindustan Unilever and holds over 50 per cent of market share in both feminine-care and healthcare categories. Besides, P&G India’s business contributes around 2 per cent to P&G’s global revenues.

Mr Vaidyanathan is well aware that his company is still underpenetrated, especially in feminine-care and personal-care in rural areas. The P&G India chief sees this adversity as an advantage, offering ample opportunities for the company’s growth. As Mr Vaidyanathan resumes his long runs every morning, he appears confident that P&G India will cover the distance faster and grow at a rapid pace.