#Interview Amit Gujral on the 3 Es of LG’s marketing strategy

LG’s marketing strategy is all about being Experiential, Emotional and Engaging says Amit Gujral, CMO, LG Electronics.

Right from #KarSalaam initiated to celebrate Republic Day to the emotionally charged Astronaut campaign, LG India has released a gamut of marketing initiatives, propagating creativity and innovation.

In an attempt to understand the brand’s take on the evolving digital industry, and approach to new age marketing techniques, Social Samosa got in conversation with Amit Gujral, CMO, LG Electronics.

 With FY 18-19 starting soon, what are some of the key priority areas for your brand?

With the fast paced change in consumerism which is focused on - 'The New' , owing to increased awareness levels basis internet penetration increase and ease of knowledge access, we at LG are totally aligned with the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and new form of consumerism via our New Technologies offering across the Product lines which is not limited to just IoT, AI etc., but much more to not only enhance consumer experience but also contribute thru' our cutting and new technology implementations which conserve Environment and Energy as well while being ahead of technology curve.

From digital campaigns to influencer marketing, the Indian advertising and marketing landscape has evolved in the last few years. What were the 3 news things that you learnt as a marketer in 2017? 

It's the changing and evolving consumer behaviour to be on digital first platform to get aware. This is not something new, however the fast pace with which internet is reaching people through smart phones and affordable data plans has made digital the most sought after platform. Thus, it's obvious for brands to strengthen the digital/social marketing and promotions.

When it comes to Influencer Marketing, I in my personal capacity can say, I have been one of the early adapter of Influencer marketing say from as old as Year-2010 and had envisaged how Influencers are going to become new word-of-mouth concept thru' digital/social platforms.

We are in the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and therefore, from my stand point (you may say my new learnings) marketing communication is also getting through a revolutionary change. Today consumers are more touched by emotional contents when brands have to reach them via stories and also the feature benefit of products is no more received as self acclaimed superiority, rather it has to be conveyed via solutions to the day-to-day issues/problems these product features can solve. For instance at LG, we have very seriously adapted the 'Health & Hygiene', "Energy and Environment Conservation" as our product benefits communication theme.

Also Read: Brands that create a tribe of believers survive for the long run: Martijn De Jong, Aegon Life

Social media is now coming of age in India. How has the active presence of social media in a consumers’ life, changed consumption trends in the consumer tech industry? 

It's difficult to say that social media has come of age. There are newer forms of platforms which are evolving to connect people socially and holistically covering various facets of lifestyles. There is a thin line today to quote what's being a social platform and what's not. However, interesting, engaging, informing content by brands shall keep up the ante of consumption in tech industry.

Which was LG’s most successful marketing campaign in 2018? What was the one thing that you think worked in favour of the brand and you would not hesitate doing again? 

LG Astronaut Digital Video, which has trended No.1 on Asia Pacific YouTube Leaderboad and also awarded as top ranking video on YouTube Leaderboard-India 2017 recently at Google BrandCast Awards. This video has touched millions of hearts, as we reached out to our consumers thru' a lifestyle story of our journey in our consumer's families since last 20 Years in India. Such high accolades by our consumers is a testimony to our brand belief - "Life's Good" and we would once again reach our Consumers with yet another lifestyle aspect on how they perceive LG as Technology leader and how integral it's part of their new purchases year after year, product after product.

AR, VR, bots, influencer marketing – how is LG catching up with the evolving marketing trends? Have you tried any of these? If yes, how was the experience? 

My pick here is still Influencer Marketing. It's there to stay and grow further stronger and the next big thing would be AI, where we shall see, newer forms of communication and consumer connect shall evolve thru' AI.

3 innovating marketing tactics that you wish to implement for LG in 2018. 

Experiential, Emotional and Engaging.

Sporting properties offer more & more interesting opportunities to brands with leagues like IPL, ISL, PKL all becoming popular, what role will sports play in your marketing mix in the coming year?

Sports is an integral part of our country's culture and certainly a good platform to connect with consumers. However, new forms of consumer connect thru' sports marketing shall be explored this year.

How do you think brand custodians can become more creative in leveraging and making their brands stand out among the clutter?

As expressed earlier, the way consumer engages these days with any entity of entertainment, we shall be there where the consumer is i.e. digital and social and carve out interesting propositions for our consumers for a more evolved and engaging connect.

What are some of the key trends marketers need to tap on to win over new audiences in this ever-evolving sports marketing environment.

Digital, Social, Web, Mobile based consumer connect should be the way forward.