P&G Refugee Says ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ Inspired Him to Save Sunny Delight

This story appears in the May 16 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

Billy Cyr, a 19-year veteran executive with Procter & Gamble Co., had 90 days to begin the transformation of a struggling, spun-off subsidiary into the beginnings of a prosperous stand-alone beverage company, so he sought inspiration from a muse.

After reflecting upon the totality of his life, Cyr said, he chose the lead character from the 1960s-1970s television comedy “Hogan’s Heroes” to exemplify the qualities he wanted to promote for his new company.

Col. Robert Hogan, said Cyr, taught him what he needed to do to make Sunny Delight Beverages Co., Cincinnati, the success that the consumer products conglomerate could not pull off.

Cyr recounted the tale of Sunny Delight’s 2004 spin-off from Procter & Gamble to more than 400 people attending the ninth annual Transplace Inc. Shipper Symposium in a suburb of Dallas.

“I needed a great leader, someone who was tested and fought against long odds . . . and Col. Hogan was as cool as they come,” said Cyr, whose company uses Transplace as a third-party logistics provider.

P&G bought Sunny D in 1989. Its revenue and profits for P&G declined from 2000-2004. By July 2003, P&G said it wanted to sell.

Cyr said the corporation could not find another beverage maker to buy the subsidiary, so Sunny Delight was sold instead to Boston private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates in April 2004.

“I took my tin cup to New York and London to beg for financing,” said Cyr, adding that he raised $255 million.

Then came the tough part.

“We had no infrastructure, no systems, no offices and only five people. We had 90 days to be ready to go,” he said.

The main lessons from Col. Hogan, Cyr said, were:

• Recognize the talents of individuals and leverage them to the fullest;

• Focus on your broad mission and goals, not momentary distractions.

• Adopt quickly and creatively to changing situations.

Cyr said his first challenge came even before the company’s spin-off was complete. A very cold summer in Europe meant Europeans were not likely to buy many cold, refreshing drinks from Sunny D. He had to renegotiate some financing deals, but he continued with his plans.

Personnel issues are tremendously important for a new firm, Cyr said. He sought out people who enjoyed risk and were willing to take a chance on leaving secure, comfortable careers with large corporations.

He spoke of four things he did and three types of people he avoided.

Cyr said he offered people broad roles for their efforts and lots of responsibility, and only staffed the company to 90% of the work that needed to be done. That kept corporate overhead low and meant managers had to concentrate on only the most important tasks that needed to be done. It also helped the company get started quickly.

He also told his top executives to pick their own teams. That meant Cyr, as chief executive officer, only had to recruit his top lieutenants, not the whole company.

He offered them equity in the company, but salaries lower than they got from previous employers. That meant management did well only if shareholders did, too.

As for people to avoid, he listed:

• Those who wanted guarantees of any sort.

• People who wanted a high salary rather than equity.

• People who quibbled over titles.

They were judged to be lacking in entrepreneurial spirit and not inclined toward risk-taking.

As a result, he said, Sunny D has increased its revenue, lowered its debt, paid back investors and turned a profit.

“We are a group of big-company refugees who succeeded where the big companies failed,” Cyr said.