MAM
Colgate ups ad spends by 32% in Q1 FY’13
MUMBAI: Personal care and oral care product manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive has increased its advertising spend by 32 per cent in the three-month period ended 30 June 2012.
The company spent Rs 837.2 million on advertising in the quarter, compared to Rs 634.1 million a year ago.
Colgate’s net sales stood at Rs 7.36 billion, up 20.45 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal (Rs 6.11 billion). The net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 1.17 billion, as against Rs 1 billion for the year-ago period, recording a 17 per cent increase.
For Q1 FY’13 Colgate achieved a volume growth of 11 per cent and enhanced its leadership position in the toothpaste category to 54.5 per cent volume market share for the period from 12 January to 12 June from 52.4 per cent for the same six months last year.
The flagship brands, “Colgate Dental Cream”, “Active Salt”, “MaxFresh”, “Colgate Sensitive” and “Colgate Total”, were the chief contributors to this growth, the company said. The company strengthened its position in the toothbrush category and grew its market share to 38.2 per cent from 36.3 per cent.
The launch of Colgate Plax Fresh Tea in the fourth quarter of FY’12 helped the company gain momentum in the mouthwash category for the quarter under review.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
