Asia-Pacific Power List 2023: Ricky Afrianto, Mayora Indah Tbk

Ricky Afrianto

Director and global marketing director
PT Mayora Indah Tbk
Indonesia
New member

Reviewing often, fixing fast, and moving on have made Mayora the Goliath in Indonesia.

Here, Ricky Afrianto feels they have the edge over the MNCs, sometimes restricted by rules and complex structures. The Mayora Group has transformed from a humble biscuit-making company to one of the biggest FMCG companies emerging from the archipelago.

Afrianto, who has been with the company for 11 years, shoulders the responsibility of growing and managing more than 50 brands in product categories such as biscuits, wafers, chocolates, candy, instant food and water.

Based on Nielsen’s gross reporting numbers, Mayora was the second largest advertiser in Indonesia, with more than US$1.6 billion in gross media spending in 2022. As the company’s global marketing director, Afrianto handles these media budgets. Under his strategic leadership, Mayora has progressively increased its media investment in the last four years (as per Nielsen) and has overtaken local giants such as Wings and Indofood.

Afrianto understands the pulse of its consumers and uses communication and marketing to astutely to achieve results. His efforts have seen Mayora expand into 100 countries, with some brands becoming market leaders outside Indonesia.

Known to strategise and implement dynamic campaigns, some of Mayora’s recent campaigns truly speak of Afrianto’s brilliance as a marketing head. Kopiko, with its three brands in the ‘brown' coffee category – Kopiko Black (strong coffee), Kopiko Brown (balance) and Kopiko Blanca (creamy), has been steadily gaining market share and together has managed to take the leadership position away from Nestle in the highly competitive 3-in-1 instant coffee market in the Philippines.

Afrianto and the marketing team have recently brought in a new brand ambassador – Jane de Leon, a young and famous Philippina actress and singer, to appeal to the younger audience.

The launch of Le Minerale in Indonesia created a mass shift and noise in the market that Danone’s Aqua has almost monopolised. Within a couple of years of its launch, it managed to snare a 20% market share, and it is a strong challenger brand in the packaged water market in Indonesia. At the height of the pandemic, Le Minerale collaborated with SME merchants in Indonesia during Ramadhan in an innovative digital push.

The campaign idea was to encourage people to break the fast together with Le Minerale while staying home. GoBiz shuffle ads were used to highlight the message that instantly hooked most of the merchants. A combination of precise targeting and engaging creative strategy enabled a seamless campaign journey.

The campaign garnered 13 million impressions, a 10% increase in merchants selling Le Minerale and a 45% increase in Le Minerale items.

As part of the launch strategy of Malkist crackers in India's highly competitive biscuit market, Afrianto managed to rope in India’s most iconic personality, Amitabh Bachchan, in a series of TV commercials endorsing the brand’s new positioning "Malkist Can’t Resist".

Under Afrianto’s leadership, Mayora has made in-roads in big categories like noodles and detergents. He is one of the board members of MMA and a part of Accelerice, which helps start-ups with funding, supply chains, and anything marketing. At Mayora, diversity is not just with gender but also nationalities, and their marketing head is constantly on the lookout for good talent.