The Mall seeks new blood executives

Chamnarn Maytaprechakul, senior chief marketing officer of The Mall Group, said he was looking for a successor who has conceptual skills and management ability.

"My successor should think out of the box and ‘transformation marketing’ skill set to … adapt marketing strategy to the environment, which is quite dynamic. They should not fear about [their] job and have a good understanding about marketing," said Chamnarn, 55, who wants to retire when he is 60.

He said his personal mission was to look primarily at The Mall’s existing marketing-oriented staff, who are about 40, as candidates to succeed him.

Chamnarn has worked at The Mall Group for almost 20 years. He has 30 years of marketing experience with various firms making such products as sanitary napkins, tissue paper, nipple,?? stationery and kitchenware.

"With my experience in various product categories, I have covered all different segments of customers at The Mall Group, ranging from kids to men and women."

He recalled that in the first 10 months of his post at The Mall Group, he was unclear on what marketing style he should adopt.

He gave the example of creating Chinese New Year campaigns, which are quite different from one year to another, which he views as a challenge.

Chamnarn said he liked to visit many bookstores such as Asia Books and Kinokuniya, where he can buy books in academic areas and on management and find inspiration.

"I also watch movies almost every week and listen to music so that I can catch up on current trends. I’m also able to apply the modern lifestyles I see in the movies to the themes and gimmicks of my marketing campaigns," he said.

The Mall Group achieved Bt44 billion in sales last year, up 10 per cent over 2010. That was well over the conservative growth target of 5 per cent set at the beginning of 2011.

"We have set conservative growth [targets] in our business performance as we want to control our expenditures. Our work and business strategy, however, is quite [aggressive]," Chamnarn said.

The group has set this year’s revenue growth target at 5-10 per cent, he said.

"We will focus on the effectiveness of our investment and expenditure in any marketing campaign. We will apply a ‘total marketing’ concept to this year’s strategy so that our marketing staff will have better bonding and understanding about their work."

Chamnarn said the local retail landscape was changing rapidly. Competitors range from department stores, hypermarkets and home furnishing centres to convenience stores and community malls. But he said he was not concerned about more intense competition.

"The competition in the local retail sector has not just happened. We try to survive in this tough market by making our stores different from others. This has become a big strength of The Mall," he said.