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Pringles manager Niccol mounts Stax defense
A DAY IN THE LIFE
IT'S FRIDAYmorning at Procter & Gamble Co., and while you'd never know it by his demeanor, Brian Niccol is under attack.
Not personally. But Mr. Niccol is North American brand manager for Pringles at a time when his potato-crisp brand faces its biggest-ever direct challenge in the form of Lay's Stax from PepsiCo's Frito-Lay. Stax launched in the U.S. in September and crossed the border in January to open a second front in Canada.
In a company known for its stiffness, particularly under fire, Mr. Niccol isn't showing it. He's relaxed and quick with a wisecrack, belying a P&G stereotype of unpersonable managers. At one point, he mentions his plans to host a "Survivor" party on a Sunday night when most of America will be at Super Bowl parties. The reason: His athletic-themed spoof ad for Fiery Hot Pringles lost out in P&G's internal Super Bowl derby to Charmin, but its runner-up status won time on the premiere of "Survivor 8" following the Super Bowl.
Mr. Niccol is a rare under-30 brand manager at P&G. Even before he took the Pringles job in December 2002, he had spent two years as brand manager launching Thermacare heat wraps. That stint is commemorated by a ballcap and other brand memorabilia that liven his cubicle-one of many cube farms throughout the very cubic P&G "central building" in Cincinnati.
WUNDERKIND
Already managing one of P&G's billion-dollar brands at 29, Mr. Niccol has the markings of a Wunderkind. He also has the added bonus, according to one former P&G executive, of working on a snack business considered "non-core," and thus relatively free of senior management meddling.
But his day is quite typical of the grindstone sharpening that noses get around here. Mr. Niccol gets in around 7:45 this morning, typical for him and many other P&G brand managers who trickle in before 8, despite snow-snarled traffic. The time before 9 will be one of the few quiet,...