P&G Says the Next Phase of Growth Is Bigger Categories, Not Bigger Share
TL;DR: Procter & Gamble says its next phase of growth will come from expanding whole categories rather than stealing market share, while marketing spend stays flat and the business is told to work harder - a signal that even the world's biggest advertiser is prioritising demand creation over share wars.
Grow the pie, don't just fight for the slice
Procter & Gamble has signalled that its future growth will come from growing categories rather than taking share from rivals. For the company that effectively wrote the modern brand-building playbook, that is a meaningful strategic tell.
The logic: in mature, penetrated categories, share battles are expensive and often zero-sum. Expanding usage - getting people to use more, more often, or in new occasions - grows the whole market, and the category leader captures the lion's share of that new demand.
Flat spend, working harder
At the same time, P&G's finance leadership says marketing spend is staying flat while the business works harder. That is not a cut - it is a demand for efficiency, more output and effect from the same money.
For everyone else, that framing is instructive. Flat but harder-working is the realistic budget posture of 2026: not slashing investment, but refusing to let it grow without proportional return. The pressure is on creative effectiveness and media efficiency, not on scale.
Why category growth beats share-stealing
Share-stealing invites retaliation; a rival you undercut simply undercuts you back, and margins erode for everyone. Category growth is harder to copy and far healthier - it creates new demand rather than redistributing existing demand.
It also changes the creative brief. Demand creation means marketing that expands occasions and usage, not just comparative claims against a competitor. That is a more durable growth engine.
What this means for your business
Before you plan your next campaign to win customers from a rival, ask whether you could instead grow the whole category - new use cases, new occasions, new reasons to buy more often. The leader of a growing category wins more than the winner of a shrinking share war.
And adopt P&G's budget discipline honestly: if spend is flat, the only lever is effectiveness. Audit where your money actually creates demand, and move it there.
Quick FAQ
What is P&G's growth strategy for 2026 and beyond?
Growing whole categories - expanding usage and occasions to create new demand - rather than focusing on taking market share from competitors, while keeping marketing spend flat.
Is P&G cutting its marketing budget?
No. Spend is described as flat while the business works harder - a push for more efficiency and effect from the same money, not a reduction.
Why does category growth beat taking share?
Share wars invite retaliation and erode margins for everyone. Growing the category creates new demand that is harder for rivals to copy, and the category leader captures most of it.
When the biggest advertiser on earth says grow the category, not the share, pay attention. Share wars are a knife fight in a phone box - everyone bleeds. Creating new demand is slower but it is yours to keep. And flat spend, work harder is the honest budget line of 2026: the only lever left is effectiveness. - Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Growing the whole category creates demand rivals cannot simply copy - a healthier engine than share-stealing, and the clearest signal yet that effectiveness, not budget size, is the 2026 battleground.
Is your next campaign trying to steal a competitor's customers, or grow the whole market you lead in?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Marketing Week.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
