How Colgate-Palmolive Is Using Data And Analytics To Transform A 200+ Year Old Business And Accelerate Growth
The origins of Colgate-Palmolive date back to 1806, when William Colgate, who had emigrated from England just two years before, established a starch, soap, and candle factory on Dutch Street in New York City under the name William Colgate & Company. The business expanded over the years with the introduction of toothpaste, a new soap made from palm oil and olive oil – hence the name Palmolive – and a range of health and hygiene products.
Today, Colgate-Palmolive is a $17B global company, and the worldwide leader in oral care. The Colgate brand is in more homes than any other, and in addition to oral care, the company is a global leader in personal care, home care, skin health, and pet nutrition. Colgate-Palmolive has also emerged as a global leader in the use of data and analytics to innovate in health and hygiene products and better serve consumers.
Colgate-Palmolive recognizes that data and analytics will be at the heart and center of innovation and growth for this 200+-year-old business. With the establishment of the Chief Analytics and Insights Officer role, Colgate-Palmolive is demonstrating how longstanding companies are today reshaping how they make decisions and drive growth in the business.
Diana Schildhouse is the Chief Analytics and Insights Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, a newly established position that she has held since 2021. Schildhouse previously served as Senior Vice President, Global Strategy, Insights, and Analytics at Mattel. In this new role at Colgate-Palmolive, Schildhouse is a member of the senior leadership team, reporting to the Group President of Strategy & Growth of the company and operating in close alignment with business leaders. The executive reporting structure underscores Colgate-Palmolive’s commitment to the necessary role that data and analytics play in shaping the company’s future.
The use of data and analytics at Colgate-Palmolive is grounded on the principle that investments in data and analytics must deliver measurable business value. To ensure measurable business outcomes, Colgate-Palmolive pursues a use-case driven, “business first” approach. This approach begins with asking what are “the big business questions” that the company needs to address, in domains such as Revenue Growth Management (RGM), which includes product pricing, promotion, and assortment, as well as areas like Marketing and Media Effectiveness and Digital Commerce.
This commitment by Colgate-Palmolive to using data and analytics to better serve its customers, deliver greater consumer options, and deliver business growth and value, was highlighted by Diana Schildhouse at a recent gathering of Chief Data and Analytics Officers (CDAO) in Boston. While many industry CDAOs spoke of spending much of their time on “defensive” data and analytics activities relating to regulatory, compliance, and risk management, Schildhouse pointed out that her focus was “100% on offense,” using data and analytics to drive business growth, create new products, and better serve our consumers. This observation was received with delight by the audience of data and analytics executive leaders, who aspire to spending more of their own time on growth-related activities.
Colgate-Palmolive’s commitment to using data and analytics to better serve consumers and drive innovation is highlighted by several ongoing initiatives. Working with internal business leaders and external partners, Colgate-Palmolive synthesizes multiple data sources to better understand consumer needs and predict trends that lead to new products for people based on their needs.
