MAM
Marico Q1 ad spend up 61%; highest increase among peers
MUMBAI: FMCG major Marico spent 60.82 per cent more on advertising in the first quarter of FY13. The company‘s spend on advertising and promotions was Rs 1.56 billion across various brands in the first quarter compared with Rs 972.43 million a year earlier.
In the first quarter, Marico‘s advertising costs accounted for 12.28 per cent of its total revenue, up three percentage points from 9.3 per cent a year earlier.
These figures are in tandem with the current trend of FMCG‘s increasing marketing spends with the rise in competition. The increase in ad spend for Marico is the highest amongst its peers so far with Dabur‘s at 51 per cent, HUL‘s at 30 per cent and Colgate 32 per cent
The company‘s revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2012 stood at Rs 12.7 billion, an increase of 21.76 per cent from Rs 10.43 billion a year earlier. The profit for the quarter also rose by a sharp 45.88 per cent to Rs 1.24 billion in the first quarter from Rs 850 million a year earlier.
Marico said the volume growth for the quarter ended 30 June 2012 was 14 per cent.
In a statement, Marico said, “The medium to longer term outlook on all the company‘s three businesses remains positive. In the medium term, the company will focus on strengthening the building blocks for future value creation – strong equities for its existing brands amongst its consumers, volume growths, robust new product pipelines and operational effectiveness.”
Brands
Dabur buys minority stake in Ras Beauty for Rs 60 crore
Dabur Ventures deal backs fast-growing luxury skincare brand
MUMBAI: Dabur India Limited has dipped into the world of luxury skincare, signing a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in Ras Beauty Private Limited for Rs 60 crore. The investment marks the first bet from Dabur Ventures, the FMCG major’s Rs 500 crore platform set up in October 2025 to back high-potential, new-age direct-to-consumer brands.
Founded in Raipur by Shubhika Jain, her sister Suramya Jain and their mother Sangeeta Jain, Ras Beauty has grown from a family-led passion project into a fast-scaling “Farm-to-Face” skincare label. Its range of face elixirs, serums and moisturisers blends essential oils with nature-derived actives, striking a balance between botanical purity and laboratory precision.
The numbers tell their own story. Ras has clocked a three-year Cagr of around 75 per cent and an annual run rate of approximately Rs 100 crore, all while maintaining strong gross margins. That growth has been fuelled by a digital-first approach, in-house R&D and manufacturing, and a sharp focus on clean, sustainable sourcing.
Dabur India executive director and group head corporate strategy Abhinav Dhall, said the company was drawn to Ras’s distinct positioning at the intersection of nature, science and luxury. He added that the premium beauty segment is poised for robust expansion over the coming decade, and that Ras is well placed to capture that opportunity.
For Ras, the partnership is as much about scale as it is about shared philosophy. Co-founder and CEO Shubhika Jain said Dabur’s 141-year legacy of building trusted, purpose-led brands makes it a natural ally. The capital infusion, she noted, will help accelerate the brand’s omnichannel footprint, deepen research capabilities and invest in team and brand building, with an eye on establishing Ras as a leading Indian luxury skincare name both domestically and overseas.
With this move, Dabur is not just investing in a skincare label. It is placing an early wager on India’s growing appetite for premium, conscious beauty, and signalling that heritage FMCG players are ready to play in the new-age D2C arena.
