PZ Cussons, Case Study

Launching Faster by Listening Better with PZ Cussons

When PZ Cussons engaged Morris Misel, they weren’t after a PowerPoint they wanted provocation. Over two immersive days, Morris dismantled old assumptions and rebuilt a culture of listening inside the company. His foresight process was simple but radical: bring the voices of real consumers into the room and let them lead.

Live panels with students, low-income households, and young parents replaced static market reports. In one powerful moment, a university student told the CEO he didn’t wash his “good jeans” because he couldn’t afford to ruin them. A European executive quietly admitted, “We already make a product for that we just never launched it here.”

That single insight became a new product. Within nine months, PZ Cussons launched a detergent in Australia designed to extend the life of premium denim a market they hadn’t even considered.

Shift: From data-validated assumptions to real-world, human-led product strategy.

The result? One of the fastest product launches in the company’s history, a renewed culture of grounded innovation, and an internal language that now prioritises people before process.