In the series of interviews with market leaders, change-makers and innovators, we bring our next interview with an innovator, marketer and visionary, Mr. Udit Malhotra, Head Of Marketing, MG Motors India.
2 days Morris Garages India appointed Udit Malhotra as marketing director, India. Malhotra has been acting head of marketing at MG for the past 10 months.
Around November 2017 and June 2019 he was part of the digital marketing department at MG.
Malhotra has worked with Genesis Burson in his previous stints – Marsteller’s for over five years, DELL for nearly one and a half years, and Infotel Solutions for over three years.
- How has been the introduction of MG Motors to the Indian Market?
The introduction to India has been fairly well. I am the core team member at MG and working with them for close to 3 years. We accredit to the marketing team for this success. But apart from marketing, MG Hector is a full package as a product. For example, services offering, internet car, Benedict Cumberbatch as the brand ambassador, and an innovative product has helped us launch in India smoothly.
- How much has Digital Media evolved in the last 10 years?
Digital Media has evolved very much in the last 10 years. Earlier, People used to look at likes and comments only but now digital media is more about sales. More than 40 percent of our Electric Vehicles were sold digitally and close to 20 percent of MG Hector was also sold digitally. Digital media is a very important driver for our sales, it not only about likes and comments. We get our real sales from Digital platforms and we are using a very high level of automation in Digital Marketing. We are one of the biggest clients of Adobe in India.
- Describe your journey through these times.
After college, I was doing the event and experiential marketing but that was 10 years back. My journey has been amazing, I was the acting head of marketing for the last 10 months and it was very crucial in my understanding of the market. We launched ZS EV and it was my launch campaign and we did it with Benedict Cumberbatch. It was a great learning for me and I am still under 30. This work is the testimony of my journey and I have enjoyed it.
- What was the idea behind the campaign “It’s A Human Thing”?
‘It’s A Human Thing’ was very important for us and it was our launch campaign. We humanized our car, MG Hector, it’s a car which talks to you, listens to you and responds. Like in the commercial, Benedict says “Hello MG, open Sunroof or another commercial where the car says “Pardon”. All of us only talk about the features of cars and treat cars mechanically. We made the car a human. We won many awards for this also including the prestigious Gold Effie Award. It’s A Human Thing was the breakthrough campaign for us and it is applicable in our daily life.
- What is the impact of COVID-19 on the market?
It’s not a negative impact but a lot of opportunities for marketers. If you look at our social media in the last few of our creatives we have promoted social distancing in different ways. It’s time for brands to educate people, communicate with them, be smart, and be authentic.
- Difference between Digital Media & Traditional Media.
The best part of Digital Media is that it can be measured. It is flexible, you can choose when to use and most of the people are on the mobile phone. This is the biggest difference that makes Digital Media unique and gives an edge over traditional media.
- Best Practices for Digital Media?
Creative Mistakes on Social Media are human errors and they are inexcusable and you can’t justify that. Listening to your customers and responding to them is most important as they are the king. If you want to know your customer’s sentiment you need to be a good listener and be ready with the prompt response.
- Do you think Kia Seltos is a competition to MG Hector?
Kia Seltos is not a competitor of MG Hector. Hyundai Creta is the main competition of Kia Seltos, not us. We are just compared because both the cars were launched at the same time. Infact, Kia Seltos is a smaller car as compared to us.
- Entering the Indian market with a Premium SUV Car. What was the thought process behind it?
We wanted to manufacture in the Premium SUV segment which is called the Premium C segment technically. Our prime rivals are Mahindra XUV 500, Tata Harrier & Jeep Compass. This is the market growth in the current scenario and that is why we want to tap this market.
- How important is brand value for any brand in the market?
Brand value is as important as the sales section of the company. Whatever MG Motors is today is due to the brand-building done in the last one and a half years. So yeah, Brand value is very crucial.
Team Next Big Brand extends heartiest wishes to Udit for his appointment as the Head of Marketing and MG Motors. Kudos to him for such an amazing and fun interview.
You can check the rest of the interviews here.
