The Queen of Wellness

IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Rajvi Mariwala connects with & understands Marico’s brands. She hopes to create a brand on her own in the future. But can she? BIKRAM KESHARI JENA presents an analysis

Although the pedigree factor is in play here, this 27-year-old gives you the feeling that she wishes to carve out a name on her own. There’s a strong underlying drive in her to become a self-made entrepreneur. Meet Rajvi Mariwala, daughter of Harsh Mariwala, CMD, Marico. So, while one can’t rule out the ‘Born with a Silver Spoon’ marque, one may have to keep it on the side in this case. Unlike the sons and daughters of several industrialists, Rajvi proved her worth before joining the family-owned business. During the first few years of her career, she spent time in other firms and climbed the corporate ladder like any other trainee.

An MBA from the University of Geneva, Rajvi has got the right training to prepare her to run the business. She might be in her twenties but she’s not short of experience. Apart from Marico, she has had stints at the US based Merci Corps North West and Trikaya Grey. In 2006, she joined Marico to shoulder the responsibility of creating new brands and positioning them. In the future, she hopes to create a new and successful brand and she’s willing to learn as well as wait for it to happen. Her ideal leader is her father, who has built one of the fastest-growing niche FMCG companies with an annual turnover of Rs.15.6 billion, which enjoys leadership in most segments that it is present in.

In the past year or so, Marico has initiated a slew of brand acquisitions and product launches, including Fiancee, Nihar, Manjal, and HairCode. Explains Asish Dangi, Analyst, Pinc Research, “The rationale behind the acquisition of Fiancee and HairCode was to enter global markets like Africa and South Asia. The brands are powerful and have given the company an upper hand compared to its competitors. Currently, the company’s growing at 20-25% globally, and this establishes that the brands have been successful. Thanks to Fiancee and Haircode, Marico controls a fifth of the Egyptian market in these respective segments.” Others contend that the strategy behind acquiring Nihar from Unilever India was to kill competition.


For example, when Marico acquired the coconut oil brand Nihar from Hindustan Lever for a total consideration of Rs. 2.27 billion in February 2006, it helped the company to increase its market share by nearly 9%. “The major gain has come in the Eastern India market where perfumed oils from Nihar have helped Marico in gaining an additional market share of over 40%,” as revealed by a recent study.

Stated a recent analyst report: “Marico is riding high on its international business. The journey so far in Bangladesh, Middle East, USA etc. has been very encouraging. We believe that the company’s experiment would continue as far as entry into other geographical regions is concerned.” It added that “Marico has acquired 4 brands in FY ’06, 2 in India and 2 in Bangladesh. These have helped the company achieve tremendous size, volume and market share. Further acquisitions cannot be ruled out, should it appear as a strategic fit to Marico’s portfolio.”

Rajvi has already received kudos for these actions. “Harsh Mariwala is no doubt a great visionary, but the way Marico was growing, it required the zeal of the next generation. Rajvi understands sales and branding well. Although a year is too short to prove her sole contribution, she will do great work with the brands in Marico’s portfolio,” affirms FICCI’s FMCG analyst, who has worked with the family.

As a professional, she’s hell bent to do justice to what the Marico name stands for. Rajvi has inculcated the ‘organisation’ philosophy. She thinks that Marico is about the organization & the team, and any individuals should not be highlighted. This was one reason why she refused to be quoted in this article. One of her colleagues in the division agrees, “Rajvi is very committed and focused, and professional interactions with her are really pleasant experiences.”

Rajvi has started mulling out strategies to strengthen Marico’s brands. According to a recent analysis, “Marico’s biggest strength lies in its brand management, whether regional or national, particularly in a commodity-like business where margins play a hide-n-seek game. Today, most of Marico brands command either leadership or challenger positions in their respective categories and hence enjoy premium pricing resulting in better margins. This also makes it easy to launch new products.”

But she has a long way to go from here. This is a learning experience, and she still works as a trainee. In addition, adverse external factors can spell doom for Marico’s growth strategy. For example, higher tax rates can slow down the sales of premium products. Similarly, an ongoing change in competitors’ strategy can harm Marico. Finally, if Rajvi fails to live up to her father’s expectations and is unable to manage future growth as well as the positioning of Marico’s brands, the company’s future can be a bit clouded. Its wellness can easily be threatened.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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