Asia-Pacific Power List 2022: Rvisra Chirathivat, Central and Robinson

Rvisra Chirathivat

Chief marketing officer
Central and Robinson
Thailand
New member

Rvisra Chirathivat is taking her 75-year-old department store chain—and the broader conglomerate it is part of—into the digital age. Over the past year, she has launched omni-channel marketing strategies to reach out to consumers not only in the storefront but also through new shopping channels, especially social commerce.

At work, she has advocated a data-driven culture, using big data from national database ‘The1’ for different consumer groups to more accurately target promotions and special events especially to high net-worth individuals, mother-and-children and millennial customers. The numbers speak for themselves. At the end of 2021, the Central App had clocked four million downloads, with sales up 70% compared to the previous year. Social commerce such as Chat & Shop and Facebook Live have grown 100% year-over-year.

To show she’s a well-rounded marketer and not just a data-led one, Chirathivat, the daughter of Suthichai Chirathivat, vice-chairman of Central Retail, launched the ‘Shop Unfriend’ campaign, which was noticed at Spikes Asia and Cannes Lions. At the end of 2021, the chain launched a ‘guilt-free festival’ campaign that renamed a product a consumer was feeling guilty about buying. Elsewhere, ‘Bring You The Best’ showed how the chain stood with customers, employees, and partners during the pandemic and as the country emerged from it.

Chirathivat is also keen to develop the Central Department Store beyond just a ‘second home’ for consumers to also support surrounding communities. For instance, the retailer has supported Gongkan, a new-wave artist, as well as Alex Face, one of Bangkok's most prominent street artists.

She is also an outspoken votary of women’s rights in Thailand. Work on this sphere includes a Women’s Day campaign highlighting the paths of influential women, a lingerie sharing campaign (where the retailer would donate money to help women inmates in Thai prisons buy underwear) and support for breast-cancer patients. At work, she advocates for all genders to have the right to speak up, pushes for more women in leadership positions, and recruits people with disabilities.