FMCG: The Power of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods

The book has a trove of historical information interesting to anyone working for FMCG companies. Easy to read, keeps you engaged.

I bought this before I went for interviews to work for one of the companies featured in the book! It was really helpful and landed me the job....

Mr. Thain brings his extensive experience in several business areas as well as his experience as having been a CEO and chairman of several companies around the world himself to this book. He brings his insight and knowledge into an interesting and easy to ready description of a selected few companies and explains e-retailing for each one as it is today. He makes several good points throughout the book, one being that FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) drives the world’s advertising industries…and this includes social media mavens: Google and Facebook to name just a couple. As we know, if a company is not already using all social media avenues available to their advantage, they soon will be--e-retailing is huge for companies to promote and market their wares. This book would make an excellent educational book for those in Marketing, Advertising and/or Business. Not only in general, but possibly specifically for anyone in that career path for a company that was analyzed in this book. Greg’s skill as a speaker reach out here as well in written format. Each chapter begins with often overlooked questions by both employees and students studying business--how, where, when, why and by whom the company was formed and founded--and then moves on to how each business evolved after it had become established. Easy to understand as each section is in chronological date order. Interestingly, he also inserts bits of information and facts that are little known and kind of cool to know—making it more of a personal read, like he is talking directly to you. (And, you never know when you will be asked that million dollar question that few people know the answer too!) In a hurry? Each company section is summarized at the end of each chapter. However, I would suggest, that if you choose to read this book, find the company you want to know most about and read the full chapter. Greg and John really did their homework and consolidated it all into one place—for a fairly quick read. Again, a great read and reference for anyone needing information and/or going to school for marketing or business development. The authors also conveniently list CEOs to each company and a brief snapshot of their timeline with the company. Super cool for fast read there. Financials are also included for 2014 To summarize: There is a lot of data in this book on each company chosen, each one backed by facts, dates and stats that appear to be meticulously researched. Riddled with interesting (and possibly some unknown facts) making it an interesting read. Each one in chronological order making it easy to follow the start up of the company and its progress through time. I would even venture that someone looking to play with their stocks, might find the information and data in this book helpful in predicting future gains or losses depending on the history of the company. Especially as towards the end of the book, there is a section on Emerging Markets that one would also find helpful.

I was given a free PDF copy of this book by one of the authors in exchange for posting a review on various sites. This is book is well researched and presented in an interesting manner. Unlike the majority of other business based books, the biggest challenge is that is extremely detailed in reviewing the 18 companies that it covers making it not a read for the faint of heart. The authors divide the information on each company into sections and the only place I felt that it bogged down was in the "What Have They Been Doing Recently" section. I also feel that illustrations and/or photos would have added to the reading experience. I recommend this book for those who are serious in knowing detailed information about the companies discussed in the book. It is not for those who are looking for a quick read.

If you have even the most basic interest in branding, marketing, retailing or just a love of business, you would be advised not to read this book if you have a lot of things calling on your time. It is addictive! Here is a behemoth of a book, crammed full of information that you just want to read. You wonder if the authors have been locked away in an office for a decade gathering information, such is the detail being presented. In many ways it is overwhelming. Yet it does not feel it is padded out, far from it - it is feared what the draft might have been before an editor’s sharp knife had been wielded. At first glance, the price of this book might give you sticker shock (and you know this will be discounted through certain online vendors) but it is not unjustified. In short you get a history of 18 of the world’s consumer goods brands - Coke, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Dean Foods, Estée Lauder, General Mills, Heinz, Henkel, Kellog, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft, L'Oréal, Mars, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever. This is not a U.S.-centric focus either as the performance of the overseas business units is brought into sharp view, showing how many “distant outposts” might lead the way. In addition a number of profiles are given for companies who are strong competitors in their regional markets and it could be interesting in the future to look back at this book and see if they managed to break out of their regions and come to dominate on the world stage. Make no mistake. This is not just a “boring” series of company profiles. Invest the time in the book and you cannot fail to takeaway a lot of actionable business information that can still be relevant today. You just have to apply the thoughts, processes and actions to your own business. You might not be the next Procter & Gamble but you will be following a great trail and stand to possibly gain a lot in the process. This book does feel as something that you will consult in the future. Towards the end of the book there was just too much data to parse. One strategy might be to focus on one company at a time. With even one company per week this book is going to last you a long time. Students will also love it and there is so much information here that could be shoe-horned into assignments for years to come (just remember the rules about citation and plagiarism!). The only concern? What could the authors come up with next? Once you come out with such a great work there is a tremendous danger that anything else will just not be able to compete and be of similar greatness, even though in isolation it still could be great.

This is an exceptionally thorough review of what is our largest industry. Over 600 pages, giving the history of 20+ leaders. There are some very interesting beginnings and early failures, the middle years, the take overs up to the last 10 years in detail. What make the companies tick, what is their DNA then right up to date with what they doing in today's electronically driven market place. Loved the chapters on the emerging markets, it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. Found this web site linked to the book (www.FMCGbook.com)which is promising to give constant updates on the companies covered in the book- all table's and financial information. Would like to have seen a little more on China / India and the new competitors that must be on the way. I foresee this book being a useful tool in schools.

This book covers a wide range of FMCG companies in very good detail. However, this book seems to be littered with grammatical errors and written in a difficult to read way. This book also occasionally contains mistakes in the commentary of the companies covered.

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Great insight to a company. Perfect for researching businesses in advance of job interviews!!

An interesting book with profiles of the largest CPG/FMCG companies in the world. Would recommend for those interested in corporate business and who are interested in pursuing careers in this sector

Great read.

Such a disappointment. This book has extremely strong content with real depth, but is difficult to read due to poor proof reading. Within 5% of the book there are upwards of 10 mistakes - typos, missing words, and complete misspellings. It simply breaks the flow of reading, and obscures the otherwise valid point the author is trying to make.