P&G announced the launch of Project Drishti in March this year, the first sight restoration corporate project, in association with the National Association for the Blind (NAB). The project was supported by P&G's feminine hygiene care brand `Whisper' and the company had announced the donation of Re 1 for every pack of Whisper sold during the period April to June, to the Project Drishti fund.

P&G's cause is seen to have had a surprisingly high motivational impact on its employees who have also comeforward in full support of the cause to voluntarily pledge 800 eyes for the blind. Besides, some employees have got together to contribute a sum of Rs 1 lakh as a token of their on-going support to the movement.

``I feel proud to work for a company which has launched a noble and charitable cause like this. It definitely gives me a feeling of motivation and dedication to the company,'' said a young P&G employee who has been working with the company for over a year now. Employees at P&G claim that peer group interactions on Project Drishti aroused a feeling a togetherness -- ``like a family'', as one puts it -- and exalted the fact that this was a team effort driven towards a cause which had nothing to do with sales targets, market share and competition.

On the enthusiasm shown by employees on Project Drishti, P&G spokesperson Anthony Rose says: ``The employees have not only pledged eyes for the blind but have also come forward to promote the project and helped in taking it to various regions of thecountry. This is over and above the normal office work put in by them. The emotional e-mails that we have received from employees is an indication that such causes bind the employees into a motivational mould.'' The total strength at P&G is 900 employees. ``Pledging of eyes is totally voluntary, and gradually we expect all employees to come forward and pledge their eyes to support the cause,'' he said.

``The company has coordinated 76 corneal transplant operations of adolescent blind girls at the end of Project Drishti. The target of getting 250 operations conducted will be accomplished over a period of time,'' says P&G marketing manager Vijay Santhanam. Corneal transplants were conducted in various cities including Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

The company held various dealer meets and retailer conferences were carried out in 10-12 cities. Famous personalities like actress Revathi, super-cop Kiran Bedi and actor Anupam Kher were among those who were roped in for the launches in variouscities.

...But will it move stagnant Whisper sales too?

Volumes of P&G's feminine hygiene care brand Whisper have crossed 25 lakh packs during April-June '99 -- the period which marked the `Project Drishti' initiative. The cause entailed Re 1 per pack of Whisper sold to be donated by the company to the Project Drishti fund. ``The company has surpassed Rs 25 lakh in contribution to the Project during this period,'' P&G marketing manager Vijay Santham told The Financial Express. This means that the company has sold over 25 lakh packs of Whisper during the period April-June '99. Going by the volumes, analysts estimate the company to have achieved sales of close to Rs 13 crore on the brand during this period.

``The fact that we have crossed Rs 25 lakh in contribution means that financially we are accomplished to bring about all of the 250 operations (each operation costs Rs 10,000). Except for the bottlenecks involved in procuring the corneas, the operations should be conducted in duecourse,'' said Santham.

The company is adamant that Project Drishti was not launched to boost the sales of Whisper, whose market share remains stagnant in terms of value at around 49 per cent. In volumes, Whisper has suffered a decline to around 38 per cent from 45 per cent last year.

``While we are awaiting the June retail audit figures for Whisper, which is expected to be better, clearly this is not the fundamental measure of success for us,'' said Santhanam. ``More than this it is the consumer awareness towards such causes which has grown tremendously that matters,'' he said.

Feminine hygiene care is one of the focus areas of P&G in India. The company, with its brand Whisper, has decided to concentrate on qualityproducts ``but at a price''. The company has not reacted to competition from low-priced sanpro products like Kimberley Clark-Lever's Kotex and Johnson & Johnson's Secure launched in the market, in terms of launching a low-priced product. P&G's latest initiative to launch New Whisper withstretchable wings priced at Rs 80 is clear indication that P&G will not go in for cheaper alternatives in the sanpro market.