Dhitivute Bulsook works alarmingly hard. Serm Suk's marketing director says that when he started out, at the tender age of 25, and for five years thereafter, he worked seven days a week.

Now about to pass the 30s threshold, Dhitivute still clocks in extra hours at work. However, the long hours seem elementary, to say the least, considering that he oversees the marketing of Serm Suk's entire range of carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, from Pepsi-Cola to more recent products such as Tropicana Twister, with a combined total turnover that reached Bt18.6 billion last year.

"I look to Khun Somchai as my role model when it comes to the work ethic," Dhitivute says.

The Somchai he refers to is no other than the president and chief executive of the company - Dhitivute's father.

As a child, Dhitivute professed to be baffled by how hard his father worked. But having tasted for himself the sweat - and the occasional blood - of the corporate battlefield, he finds his father increasingly inspiring. Another principle he has picked up from his old man is commitment.

For Dhitivute, commitment is a prerequisite - even on the verbal level. He urges his staff not to take lightly what they say. "If you cannot do [the required tasks] in the first place, just say so." One must be able to keep one's word, he says, or trust is out the window.

Dhitivute says the nature of his business requires long-term commitment and trust, for instance, with long-time trading partners such as Yum Restaurants' KFC and Pizza Hut.

Serm Suk, which is Pepsi-Cola's official bottler in Thailand, has a history stretching back 55 years. It was founded by Police Lt-General Prapinit Chonkadee, MR Boonrub Pinitchinkadee, Khunying Udomluck Sriyanont, Yom Tantasrethi, Lowtiakchuan Bulsook and Wong Kulayanakup, in 1952.

The company is now the country's major contender in the drink industry, claiming a 49.8-per cent share in last year's cola market - although this claim is contested by its main competitor, Coca-Cola.

Operating on such a long-term business outlook, it may be little wonder that both Somchai and Song Bulsook, Dhitivute's grandfather, were inducted into Pepsi-Cola's Hall of Fame - a record in the international bottlers' community. No two executives from the same Pepsi-Cola bottler have ever been inducted into the Hall of Fame before.

With close ties with PepsiCo International, Dhitivute honed his business skills at its headquarters in Purchase, New York, after finishing his MBA at prestigious Babson College, in Massachusetts. In 10 years there, he went from management trainee to director, and worked in diverse capacities from human resources to sales.

"They moved me around into different positions. A job usually lasted for a year to a year and a half," Dhitivute says. It was accelerated learning with increasing expectations.

The experience working abroad has given Dhitivute a balanced view on work culture. He says that often an all-out, result-driven "either perform or you're sacked" Western corporate mentality does not work in Thai companies, where the seniority system dominates.

"It is more of a family atmosphere," Dhitivute says. "Prangnee [Chaipidej, Serm Suk's advertising and public relations manager] is like a sister to me."

He believes a mixture of both cultures would be "almost perfect". He also recognises that some posts in Serm Suk's workforce require "marathon runners", while others need people with a shorter work mileage.

Nevertheless, Serm Suk strives to enhance its corporate structure by improving its human resources. Such "professional enhancement" is part of a Bt850-million investment by Serm Suk, which also covers an IT system update, increased productivity and logistics improvement.

For Dhitivute the marketer, there is no resting on laurels. On the offensive front, Serm Suk has been aggressively pushing all of its brands. The once-defunct Pepsi Max has been resurrected with 50-per-cent sales growth and Crystal has taken the No-2 spot in the bottled drinking-water market with a 45-per-cent increase in sales, a feat of which Dhitivute is particularly proud, since the brand was internally developed.

Coming from a sales background and being well versed in all channels from modern trade and fast foods to traditional commerce, Dhitivute believes that salespeople know best what kinds of marketing are required.

""There are three kinds lie. Lies, damn lies and statistics," wrote the Victorian Scottish essayist and satirist Thomas Carlyle - and liberally quoted by Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain. But what was written well over 100 years back is still relevant today. In companies dealing with fast-moving consumer goods, it is not uncommon to find torrents of market research. Dhitivute regularly insists upon confirming the findings himself in the field.

"You must keep your eyes and ears open, as well as using your mouth to ask questions," says the seasoned marketer. "By going out into the marketplaces, we get to interact with our customers, consumers and teams first hand."

Therefore, sales and marketing go together like a pair of chopsticks. If only the two can be synchronised, the company will become invincible, Dhitivute says. And for the two functions to dance without stepping on each other's toes, open internal communication is essential; communication must be two-way and everyone must be ready to embrace change and be receptive to new ideas.

He advocates an almost Confucian culture, where senior employees must also respect juniors in return. Such is Serm Suk's corporate culture, says a proud Dhitivute.

But on a more predictable level, Serm Suk has its "six Es" strategy: excite the market, extend the product line, elevate returns on investment, enforce partnership bonds, enhance the corporate structure and expand business. It seems to be working.

As a busy executive, Dhitivute has drawn a clear line between work and family life.

He makes it a point not to talk about business with his father at home, preferring to leave such matters for the office.

The rising executive leads a simple, Zen-like lifestyle, picked up from his father. He has no special hobbies and has no time for that ever-popular corporate pastime, golf. Instead he swims. Swimming has taught him to better control his emotions and temperament.

Then there are the family meals - occasions for Dhitivute, arguably one of Thailand's most eligible bachelors, to spend some precious time with his parents, especially his mother.

He likes reading as well, particularly books on "life and living". But when the man has so little time, ladies, gifts should be restricted to books of the short and easily digestible variety.

Ki Nan Tsui

The Nation