#e4mExclusive:  Somasree Bose Awasthi steps down as CMO of Marico

Somasree Bose Awasthi has stepped down from her role as Chief Marketing Officer at Marico Limited, concluding a nearly three-year tenure with the company, Marico has confirmed to e4m.

All through her career she held several key leadership positions across marketing and sales.

Awasthi joined Marico in November 2022 as CMO, overseeing brand strategy, innovation, and marketing initiatives across the company's diverse portfolio.

"Somasree Bose Awasthi was associated with Marico as its Chief Marketing Officer and stepped down from her role due to certain personal reasons. During her tenure at Marico, Somasree played an institutional role in strengthening marketing talent, processes, and ways of working, and helped shape a robust innovation pipeline. We wish Somasree continued success in her future endeavours," Marico spokesperson told e4m.

Before joining Marico, Awasthi spent over 15 years at Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). She began her journey at Godrej in 2003 as a management trainee and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming Chief Marketing Officer for India in 2021.

Her career at GCPL included leadership of the homecare, personal care, and aircare categories. Among her most notable contributions was the conceptualisation and launch of Godrej Aer, which she built into a market leader in the air freshener category with a turnover of approximately Rs 600 crore within a decade of launch. She also played a pivotal role in the growth of HIT, GCPL’s household insecticide brand, taking it from Rs 40 crore to over Rs 450 crore in sales in under seven years.

Awasthi led a strategic turnaround of GCPL’s soaps category, reviving brands like Cinthol and Godrej No.1, both of which registered consistent market share gains under her leadership. She also pioneered the company’s D2C efforts, starting with Godrej Aer, laying the foundation for digital-first brand building within the group.

Early in her career, she served as Area Sales Manager for West Bengal upcountry, becoming the first woman in the Eastern Region to hold such a position in any FMCG company at the time. Her subsequent shift to marketing saw her lead product launches and expansions across multiple categories.

Awasthi is an alumna of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), where she earned her MBA in Marketing and Human Resources and graduated as a gold medallist.

Marico is yet to announce who will succeed her in the CMO role.