Asia-Pacific Power List 2024: Ricky Afrianto, Mayora Indah Tbk

Ricky Afrianto 

Director and global marketing director
PT Mayora Indah
Indonesia
Returning member

Growing up playing a lot of volleyball, Ricky Afrianto seems to have gained much of his business acumen from the nuances of the game. Just as volleyball is a fast-paced challenge that requires players to always be in a 'ready position' to swing, hit, pass, or run at a moment's notice, Afrianto is always ready to adapt. As a result, he’s developed a management style that cuts through bureaucratic constraints, bringing agility to decision-making and responding to market needs, which he believes is the key differentiator between Mayora and other FMCG MNCs operating in Indonesia.

Like all games, volleyball requires fighting through adversity with a single-minded objective: To win. Afrianto possesses this quality in abundance. It's no surprise then that Mayora, despite inflationary pressures, successfully managed an aggressive price increase in 2022-2023 and delivered its highest net profit of $198 million, a 63.4% increase from the previous year.

This achievement was supported by some strong campaigns led by Afrianto, both locally and globally. Galon Le Minerale, Mayora’s packaged water brand, showed strong double-digit performance and took leadership in some key areas. This was despite facing a negative media campaign that labeled Le Minerale as environmentally harmful due to its 'disposable' nature. Afrianto and his team of experts used this as an opportunity to communicate the product's superiority, launching high-visibility campaigns with laboratory validation of its purity and quality, as well as highlighting many of its CSR initiatives.

Afrianto approved a 10% increase in media budgets to support new launches such as Champion and Roma Kelapa Cream in their respective categories in the Philippines and Indonesia, and to help Mayora’s established brands maintain their market position. Kopiko, one of Mayora’s star brands, delivered strong growth in ASEAN, Korea, and the US by consistently and astutely building the brand, especially by tapping into the global trend of K-dramas. Kopiko achieved a 45% market share in the Philippines. In India, Kopiko successfully appointed MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador. The first campaign featuring Dhoni in his "Thala" avatar was launched in January 2024.

Returning to the list for the second year in a row, Afrianto is also a regular speaker at universities and has participated in many marketing-led panel discussions and podcasts. He is also a distinguished member of the 'Marketing Enthusiast' community in Indonesia.