MAM
Innovation and pioneering helped Marico grow: Harsh Mariwala
MUMBAI: Harsh Mariwala transformed his family's trading business in spices and edible oils into Rs 7,300-crore FMCG giant Marico, led by flagship brands such as Saffola and Parachute which sell in 25 countries. The company recently launched Saffola FITTIFY, a range of healthy soups and shakes. Mariwala's other businesses include Kaya, a chain of skin care clinics.
The company also scouts for young Indian entrepreneurs and facilitates the start-up ecosystem through the mentoring platform Ascent Foundation.
Mariwala is someone who walks the talk and lives by example – a catalyst of positive change, said Raj Nayak during a tete-a-tete with the affable Marico founder.
“We started in phases, earlier the name of the company was Bombay Oil Industries. It's an edible oil business where we were selling coconut oil, refined oils to trade as well as some industries. That business was not doing too well, lots of businesses depend on how well you cover your raw material or how the raw material prices behaved, so it was very erratic in terms of margin and performance,” shared Mariwala.
So he thought of converting the oils business from unbranded to branded in order to make it more profitable and sustainable, a bold move which paid off. And that’s how it all started. He started travelling to internal markets, appointed distributors, talent managers, advertising agencies in the interiors of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The consumer product is highly de-licensed, which helped Mariwala to gain profit. Apart from licensing, one clear no for him was entering the high-tech business.
Mariwala mentioned that while his iconic Parachute brand was a success, it was mainly selling in 50 litre tins. Initially, the retailers would buy it and sell it in bottles which were later purchased by consumers. Back then, the market of packed coconut oil was much smaller than what it is today. Later, the idea struck him to create a packaged product which was sold in various parts of Maharashtra. Mariwala’s initial foray was to scale up the existing business across India.
Another well-known brand, Saffola was neglected for a very long period of time, he revealed. After starting the business, his focus was to identify further opportunities. He added, “I wanted to be in the number one position, to be a market leader, as it helps you to get more margin. We grew by innovating in the coconut oil market, during that time the whole market worked on tin containers, then we converted it to plastic. It was not an easy journey; it was a tough conversion. However, it ensured that our growth rate jumped up multiple times. We applied the same innovation in Bangladesh, and now we are the leading coconut player in the Bangladesh market.”
Another key innovation was the lice-killing hair product Mediker, a must-have in Indian households with young kids.
“We acquired Mediker from Proctor & Gamble and introduced it in oil format, the sales just doubled. So, innovation and pioneering helped us to grow,” the business tycoon remarked.
Relating an interesting anecdote behind how the Revive detergent was launched in the early ‘90s and creating a market for a product where none existed, Mariwala said, “We came up with our product Revive out of a personal necessity. I liked crisp clothes, that is how we made Revive which helps to starch clothes without any hassles.”
According to him, for any product, there must be a consumer need which is big enough to build a brand. Moreover, to become a market leader, advertising is very important and once a certain mass is created, one can go back to devising effective cost structures and improving margins.
Everybody still wonders, from where the name Parachute emerged. Mariwala jokingly said that is the question that the nation wants to know. He shared that Bombay Oil Industries was formed in 1947, shortly after the second World War when a lot of Indians got to know about parachutes – and that’s how Mariwala’s uncle thought of creating a brand by this name, which is now a huge success.
On the subject of world wars, Mariwala opined that there is an ongoing war for talent, and one has to treat hiring like marketing. “When there is a shortage of good talent, you have to market yourself first,” he quipped. “That means you have to identify what is unique about you, you arrive at what we call employee value proposition, which is unique in the job market. In our case, unlike big MNC corporations where decisions are taken in closed headquarters, we empower our employees.”
Spoken like an entrepreneur who knows how to make a difference.
MAM
India’s financial sector spent less on TV ads in 2025 but flooded the internet
Banks, insurers and lenders cut tv ads as digital jumps, LIC and Muthoot lead tv and Axis Bank tops online
MUMBAI: India’s banking, financial services and insurance sector, one of the most prolific advertisers in the country, delivered a split verdict on media in 2025. It spent less on television, held its nerve in print, turned up the volume on radio and deluged the internet with a ferocity that left every other medium looking pedestrian. The picture that emerges from TAM AdEx’s cross-media report for the BFSI sector is of an industry in transition, still wedded to the news bulletin but increasingly seduced by the algorithm.
Television: a retreat with caveats
TV ad volumes for the BFSI sector fell 16 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024, a sharp reversal after two years of consistent growth that had pushed volumes 16 per cent above 2021 levels by 2023 and a further 7 per cent higher by 2024. Within 2025 itself, the drop was concentrated in the middle of the year: the second and third quarters saw ad volumes slide 35 per cent each against the first quarter, with a partial recovery of 13 per cent in the fourth.
The retreat did not reshuffle the deck. Life insurance retained first place among TV categories with 19 per cent of ad volumes, mortgage loans held second with 16 per cent, and the top ten categories together accounted for 82 per cent of all BFSI television advertising. The dominance of news channels was equally pronounced: news claimed 68 per cent of ad volumes, general entertainment channels a distant 14 per cent and movies 12 per cent. Together, news and GEC captured 82 per cent of the sector’s television spend. News bulletins alone took 48 per cent of programme-genre volumes, with feature films second at 12 per cent. Prime time, between 6pm and 11pm, drew 34 per cent of ad volumes, followed by afternoon at 22 per cent and morning at 20 per cent. A full 82 per cent of all ads ran between 20 and 40 seconds.
Life Insurance Corporation of India was the sector’s biggest TV spender with 11 per cent of ad volumes. Muthoot Financial Enterprises came second with 9 per cent, followed by National Payments Corporation of India at 6 per cent, Tata AIG General Insurance at 5 per cent and State Bank of India at 5 per cent. The top ten advertisers together accounted for 51 per cent of total TV volumes. Three names were new to the top ten in 2025: Tata AIG General Insurance, IIFL Finance and Tata Capital. At brand level, Muthoot Finance Loan Against Gold led with 9 per cent share, Tata AIG Health Insurance entered the top ten for the first time, and the top ten brands together contributed 35 per cent of ad volumes.
Print: the long climb continues
Print told a different story. Ad space for the BFSI sector has grown every year since 2021, rising 16 per cent in 2022, 30 per cent in 2023, 51 per cent in 2024 and 64 per cent in 2025, all measured against a 2021 baseline. Within 2025, ad space was flat in the second quarter but surged 46 per cent in the third and 33 per cent in the fourth compared with the first. Life insurance led print categories with 21 per cent of ad space, followed by mutual funds and banking services and products at 13 per cent each, and corporate financial institutes at 11 per cent. The top ten categories together took 82 per cent of print ad space. LIC led print advertisers with 6 per cent share, and the top ten together covered just 19 per cent of ad space, a reflection of how fragmented print spending remains. Three new entrants joined the top ten in 2025, with Billion Brains Garage Ventures the only exclusive presence not seen in 2024’s list. In the top ten brands, LIC dominated with a 2 per cent share, while Nippon India Mutual Fund rose to third position from fourth in 2024. English accounted for 62 per cent of print ad space, Hindi for 20 per cent. Business and finance publications took 59 per cent of the genre split. The south zone led regional spending with 33 per cent of print ad space, Bangalore topping that zone, while New Delhi and Mumbai were the leading cities nationally.
Radio: louder than ever
Radio ad volumes for the BFSI sector have climbed steadily, rising 12 per cent above 2021 levels in 2023, 36 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2025. The quarterly pattern within 2025 was volatile: a sharp drop of 43 per cent in the second quarter and 42 per cent in the third, followed by a near-full recovery in the fourth. Life insurance led radio categories with 22 per cent of volumes, banking services and products second at 14 per cent and corporate NBFCs third at 11 per cent. LIC of India held its position as the leading radio advertiser with 20 per cent of ad volumes; the top ten radio advertisers together covered 69 per cent. Muthoot Financial Enterprises led radio brands with 10 per cent share, five of the top ten brands belonged to LIC alone, and SBI Mutual Fund made a remarkable leap to fifth position from 272nd in 2024. Evening and morning time-bands together captured 84 per cent of radio ad volumes, with evenings at 44 per cent and mornings at 40 per cent. Maharashtra was the leading state for radio BFSI advertising with 18 per cent share; Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 43 per cent.
Digital: the five-times surge
If one number defines the 2025 BFSI advertising story, it is five. Digital ad impressions for the sector multiplied fivefold between 2021 and 2025, having already doubled in 2023 and doubled again in 2024 before the 2025 leap. Within the year, impressions dipped 19 per cent in the second quarter and 12 per cent in the third before recovering 8 per cent above the first quarter by the fourth. Banking services and products led digital categories with 27 per cent of impressions, life insurance and credit cards tied at 19 per cent each, and securities and sharebroking organisations fell from first place in 2024 to fourth in 2025. Axis Bank was the runaway leader among digital advertisers with 12 per cent of impressions, followed by ICICI Bank at 9 per cent, IDFC First Bank at 7 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank at 6 per cent. The top ten digital advertisers covered 59 per cent of impressions, and seven of them were new entrants compared with 2024, signalling rapid churn in the digital spending hierarchy. At brand level, Axis Bank led with 9 per cent, ICICI HPCL Super Saver Credit Card vaulted to third place from 921st in 2024, and six of the top ten digital brands were new to the list. Programmatic buying accounted for 91 per cent of all digital BFSI transactions; combined with ad networks, it captured 96 per cent.
The data from TAM AdEx paints the portrait of a sector that still believes in the power of the television news bulletin to sell insurance to the masses, but increasingly knows that the next generation of borrowers, investors and cardholders is scrolling, not watching. The race is now on to reach them before the algorithm serves up someone else’s loan offer first.
