Just before he announced his intention of floating MUTANDIS on the stock exchange, Adil Douiri, former Minister of Tourism and CEO of MUTANDIS, took time out for an interview with us. We talked about his career path, the economic and political context and Morocco in 10 years. He also gave us hints about his secret marketing mix.
Morocco Political and Economic Context
Since the first government nominated by Mohamed VI, Adil Douiri considers we have seen a break in the economic policy with decisive choices and roadmaps for every sector. Since then the national administration is comparable to the management of a company with a clear vision of economic growth. He thinks the political model we are building is original and very effective.
In terms of results, A. Douiri believes that Morocco played its game well. Morocco exports around 300 billion Dirhams (USD 30.8 billion) every year for a GDP of 900 billion Dirhams (USD 92.3 billion) which is a creditable result.
However he acknowledges that there are no clear economic policies. Governments that come and go are not always competent and qualified to draw and implement economic policies that can take advantage of the growth potential of the Moroccan market that is around 5-5.5%. So far the national administration cannot afford economic experts to do so. The problem remains unresolved.
MUTANDIS Marketing Mix
MUTANDIS is positioned on consumer goods in the segments of hygiene, food processing and the automotive sector.
Moroccan companies face competitive battles with bigger multinational companies. A. Douiri thinks it is still possible to build national success stories with smart strategies targeting niches. In the case of Distra, MUTANDIS chose to create two umbrella brands targeting two types of women who could be satisfied with what Distra has to offer. This ‘trick’ significantly helped reducing marketing costs. Reducing manufacturing costs by innovating products formulas was a decisive step as well.
Taking on the Export Challenge
Adil Douiri insists on the fact that it is very important to consolidate the national activity of a company before tapping into foreign markets. It took Distra 5 to 6 years to be ready to export.
The first step is to select distributors in targeted countries, then comes the step of manufacturing locally to reduce costs.
Adil Douiri also talks about his success factors and we end up the video asking Moroccans if they fully trust Moroccan brands or if efforts must still be made. Please give us your views on the subject in the comments box below.
Entrepreneur Talk already conducted a survey. The result are not that surprising, it is still alarming, discover it here.
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