Who is this villain in Kia Motor’s latest commercial?

Kia Motor’s India has launched its first marketing campaign to announce their new product Kia Seltos. They have roped in Tiger Shroff to be the face of the campaign and have released two TVCs. Conceptualised by Innocean Worldwide, the campaign is titled #ProjectBadass and sees the return of a character from their brand film ‘Magical Inspirations, Stunning Designs’.

Read More: Deciphering the Kia Motors brand TVC

The character from the brand TVC, who complained about not being inspiring enough for Kia Motor’s designs returns in the new commercial in an effort to conspire against the brand. Apparently, this villain character is called the Meerkat who in an attempt to be one of the inspirations behind Kia cars tries to bribe the designer but has no luck.

Inspired by the BADASS in You! #KiaSeltos- India’s most awaited SUV with aesthetically crafted interiors & smart technology. Bookings open soon! But what on earth is this @Meerkat_me doing here? #KiaSeltos #ProjectBadass #TigerVsMeerkat #ThePowerToSurprise

— Kia Motors India (@KiaMotorsIN) July 4, 2019

Kia Motor’s has gone as far as to create a Twitter handle for this character and the profile bio read ‘I am Meerkat- A benchmark of beauty & perfection. I am a super talented candidate to become Kia’s magical inspiration. But don’t know why Johnny won’t agree?’

Meerkat has appeared several times in their global ad campaigns, where we see the character try various tactics to get the designer 'Johnny' to include it in his list of inspirations. With the tagline 'What happens when a Meerkat tries to Inpsire a Kia Designer' we see the character get into all sorts of comical situations to  appease Johnny but nothing works.

While Twitter activity on this handle has just begun, we already see the brand experimenting with memes to resonate with digital natives and create a buzz around the brand.

If you wanna lose small, join #TeamTiger 👎🏻
But, if you wanna win big & CONSPIRE like a badass join #TeamMeerkat 😎#KiaSeltos #ProjectBadass pic.twitter.com/mrZBDOXsDg

— Meerkat (@Meerkat_me) July 8, 2019

Whether this will yield results, only time will tell, but for now Kia Motor’s is surely taking an novel approach to marketing.