The parachute brigade ; Marico is an Indian multinational with a difference it is powering its overseas business by becoming a part of life in West Asia, Africa and even Bangladesh.

Marico was in a fix: its Parachute hair oil was a hit withIndians in the Gulf, but why were Arabs shunning it? Well,apparently because they preferred hair creams to oils. Word wentback to headquarters in Mumbai: Send cream, not oil. The result:Parachute Advanse Hair Nourishment Cream, launched in the UAE in2001. Since then, Marico's sales in the region have never slowed.Better still, Marico decided to try the cream back on its home turfand launched it in 2005 as an after-shower cream, and now has 19 percent of the hair creams and gels segment.

Little wonder that Marico today has a Rs 500-crore internationalbusiness group with a footprint in West Asia and Africa, …