Procter & Gamble CEO David Taylor on Tuesday said that investors supported his company's strategy, despite a proxy battle that saw nearly half the votes cast go against it.
Earlier, P&G declared victory, saying shareholders had rejected activist investor Nelson Peltz's push for a seat on its board, following the biggest proxy battle in history. One estimate says the consumer packaged goods giant has spent $60 million to support its fight.
P&G shares fell more than 2 percent after news of the vote broke.
"Certainly, there's a desire to see us move faster, and I take the feedback from all investors ... but, frankly, I know talking to many investors, they support the strategy," Taylor told CNBC.
Under Taylor, who joined in 2015, P&G has sought to stem its market share losses by focusing on research and development and simplifying is corporate structure. The owner of Bounty paper towels and Tide detergent will continue to focus on innovation, said Taylor, but it will not focus on millennial brands at the expense of its core brands.
"That's not a good decision, if you're about value creation, [and] not just something that comes and goes," he said. "[If] you look at brands like Vicks and Tide, those brands have been around because we continue to innovate."
Taylor said he respects Nelson Peltz as a large shareholder and will listen to and talk to him even without a seat on the board. He countered Peltz's claims P&G is too insular, saying it is working to hire more outsiders, though could move faster in that regard.
"The message to me, to the board and to the company, is 'let's do the right things, do them faster and the right way.'"
Watch: P&G CEO David Taylor: I'm happy about preliminary vote results
