During Dryel's first year, Ms. Geoffroy traveled to some of the product's nearly 300 shopping-mall demonstrations. This spring, she has been busy with a thorough review of the past year, and writing plans for all aspects of Dryel's business in the fiscal year that starts July 1. Ms. Geoffroy came to Procter in 1996 out of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. By early 1998, she was assistant brand manager on Dryel, which was still in development. And in June 1999, she became brand manager, shortly after Dryel was unveiled in retail-store test markets.
Most brand managers oversee a product for just two to three years.
Dryel definitely has a special place in my heart. For example, the company loves to test a product by putting samples in consumers' mailboxes, but Dryel, with its package about the size of a half-gallon of ice cream, did not lend itself to the technique. Instead, Procter took dryers to nearly 300 shopping malls during its first year, and let consumers try the product there during a two-week stint. Consumers use Dryel by putting a stain remover on clothes, placing them in a nylon bag, and putting them into their own dryers. Financial results have been mixed.