BMW India boss's success mantra: Follow the consumer to stay relevant

Rudratej Singh spent nearly two decades at Unilever before changing sectors.

By ET Bureau | Jan 06, 2020, 10.28 AM IST

In an interview to an automobile magazine, Rudratej Singh spoke of the lessons he learnt from his time at the consumer goods giant. (Image: Rudratej Singh/LinkedIn)

Rudratej Singh, who took charge of BMW India as its CEO last year, spent nearly two decades at Unilever before changing sectors.

In an interview to an automobile magazine, Singh spoke of the lessons he learnt from his time at the consumer goods giant. “Unilever gave me an insight into the consumer in various categories, soup to soap and everything in between. But it’s all undifferentiated. To seek differentiation, to get consumers to prefer you over another brand, you work harder. But in the auto sector, consumers are more involved. They come to your store. Imagine a toothpaste store, it would never happen,” he said.

“We still sometimes take the consumer for granted. We assume that they will transact, and we will only engage with them when we want to.... But if you follow the consumer, you will always remain relevant,” Singh added.

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