“The exercise showed clear support of people & the clear support of brands.”

If perseverance and passion ever remained a yardstick to judge an employee’s mettle, then Sethi would be outclassing the rest of the herd. For, if it were not for him steering the ship called Reckitt Benckiser, then the company would have surely gone under, at least in the Indian seas. Despite cut-throat competition from HLL, P&G and Godrej – all vying for a large portion of the FMCG pie – Reckitt Benckiser showed its mettle to become a prominent consumer goods player in the South Asian markets. However, the company did have its share of troubles. Reckitt Benckiser (India) was de-listed from the bourses in 2003 and it was then that Sethi’s mercurial mettle came to the fore, when the FMCG major underwent a major restructuring exercise and successfully came out of the financial woes. Since then the company has grown at a healthy rate of 10-12%. Ecstatically talking about the restructuring, Sethi says, “The exercise showed clear support of people & the clear support of brands.”

Reckitt Benckiser’s standing as a global enterprise got a boost when it gobbled up Boots Healthcare International in October 2005 for a mind-blowing £1.9 billion. With this acquisition, the company was able to add three more global brands – Sweetex, Strepsils and Clearasil – to its ever expanding kitty. The trio was earlier marketed via a JV between Nicholas Pi-ramal & Boots Healthcare International. Sethi, who is also the group’s Regional Director (South Asia), pointed out that this acquisition further strengthened Reckitt Benckiser’s place in the personal care & healthcare domain. According to a recent report by research firm ACNielsen, Reckitt Benckiser is recording a healthy growth rate of 40% and that too without any major investments. When we quizzed Sethi on Reckitt Benckiser’s entry into the food segment, he was pretty tight-lipped and not at all perturbed that arch rival Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) had entered into a JV with Hershey earlier this year.

Seems like the company’s strategy is to take its existing brands to a new pedestal in the Indian consumer care mart, before looking at other segments. Divulges Sethi, “Reckitt Benckiser is the number one emerging modern brand in metros”, However, reaching this position was not easy for the company. A number of strategies, media campaigns, advertising et al, has helped the company reach its current position. Time and again, the company has roped in different brand ambassadors to promote its products.

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Source: IIPM Editorial, 2008
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