P&G India appoints LV Vaidyanathan as Chief Executive Officer

Mumbai: Procter & Gamble announced Tuesday that LV Vaidyanathan will take over as the Chief Executive Officer for its operations in India from July 1, 2022.

Vaidyanathan is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad who started his journey with P&G in 1995 as an intern and joined the India Sales team straight from campus in 1996. He has more than 26 years of experience across diverse geographies and cultures like India and ASEAN countries including Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

He is currently leading the P&G business in Indonesia as CEO where he has been responsible for industry-leading growth and value creation for the company. Under his leadership, the Indonesian business has transformed to become value accretive for the parent company and has overtaken a formidable competitor in the market by turning around the share gap in the last 4 years.

Vaidyanathan is a passionate advocate for Equality and Inclusion, and under his leadership, P&G has achieved the milestone of having 50% women representation in their leadership team. He has also stepped up the company’s focus on environment sustainability in Indonesia where all of the company’s manufacturing sites have become ‘Zero Manufacturing Waste to Landfill’, and the company is working with external stakeholders to innovate and develop technology that can accelerate efforts to advance the circular economy.

Vaidyanathan has also served as the Chairman of Indonesia Chapter of US ASEAN Business Council. 

He will take over from Madhusudan Gopalan, who is going to take on an important leadership role within P&G as Senior Vice President – Grooming & Oral Care, P&G Japan & Korea. During his four-year tenure at the helm of P&G India, Madhusudan led the transformation of the business and find its winning formula to consistently deliver sustainable top and bottom-line growth. P&G continues to be the market leader in most of the segments it operates in like baby diapers, blades & razors, feminine care, shave prep, health care, anti-ageing skincare, and is number 2 in shampoos and toothbrushes. He has been instrumental in guiding the company through the challenges of the pandemic, delivering strong balanced growth while prioritising the health and well-being of P&G people.

Madhusudan has been heavily invested in developing young Indian talent and grooming Indian talent for international roles within the company. As a result, Indian talent growth has accelerated over the last 4 years with a strong pipeline of diverse, highly capable, and agile leaders for India and the globe. Madhusudan is also known for his passion to elevate the company’s focus to be a ‘force for good’ across areas of community impact, equality & inclusion and environmental sustainability. Under his leadership, the company launched its ‘P&G Suraksha India’ program towards COVID relief where it contributed towards vaccine doses, oxygen concentrators, masks, and sanitisers for the protection of frontline workers and underprivileged communities. He has been instrumental in sharpening the company’s focus on environmental sustainability and P&G recently became one of the first FMCG companies in the country to achieve ‘plastic packaging waste neutrality’.

Magesvaran Suranjan, P&G President, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, said, “I want to thank Madhusudan for his outstanding leadership of the India organisation over the last four years and the transformation of the business to delivering consistent balanced growth and value creation. Not only has his leadership been exemplary to guide the company through the pandemic, but he is also leaving the business well-positioned to win in India for years to come. I am thrilled with LV Vaidyanathan’s appointment as the India CEO, who has been an integral part of the P&G growth story for well over two decades. He is an outstanding leader, and the India business will immensely benefit from his leadership and skills which have led to the strong growth of the different businesses that he has led across Southeast Asia. The moves for both Madhusudan and LV are testament to the strength of Indian talent and India’s importance as a talent factory for P&G globally.”

Gopalan said, “It has been a great honour to lead the P&G business in India, my home country where I started my P&G career. The four-year journey has been an enriching and rewarding one and I’m proud of what we have achieved together as the India team. The business is in great shape and we have found our winning formula where our strategy is delivering consistent top and bottom-line growth and our people are growing and thriving. I am delighted with the appointment of LV Vaidyanathan as my successor, one of India’s home-grown talents who I firmly believe has the right expertise to lead the growth of our business in India in the years to come. I am confident that he will continue to lead the P&G India business to greater heights and in turn, incrementally contribute to the overall growth for the parent company.”

Vaidyanathan, said, “It is a moment of great pride for me to come back to India and spearhead the P&G business. I am looking forward to being back in the market, learning more about the Indian consumers and serving their needs. For us, going forward, it will be important to continue the focus on our strategy which is delivering consistent results. We will raise the bar on all aspects of our superiority strategy– product, package, brand communication, retail execution, and value. We will continue to drive productivity improvements to fund investments in innovation and help drive balanced top-and bottom-line growth. As a focused and agile and accountable organisation operating at the speed of the market, we will also aim to lead constructive disruption across the value chain in the industry. I can’t wait to get started and I am looking forward to working with our incredibly talented team in India.”

Vaidyanathan started his career with P&G in India in 1996 as a new hire in the Sales function from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and worked in various sales leadership roles across India. His first international assignment was in 2004 in P&G Vietnam, where he worked as the Sales Director. Between 2007-2018, he worked in various leadership Roles across ASEAN including Head of Sales for Southeast Asia and Head of Marketing and Commercial for Philippines. In 2018, he was elevated to the role of CEO, P&G Indonesia where he has delivered strong industry-leading business results and share growth for P&G brands. In total, LV Vaidyanathan has 26 years of diverse experience in the FMCG industry with P&G, working in India and ASEAN markets; across a wide range of categories and channels.