MG rolls out “Thinking EV? Think MG” campaign across Australia

MG Motor Australia has launched a new national campaign aimed at tightening the link between “EV” and the MG brand in a market where more automakers are competing for mainstream consideration.

The work was created by Elevencom and runs across TV, outdoor, cinema, radio, and digital. MG has outlined the campaign details in an official announcement.

Table of contents

Jump to each section:

• What MG is trying to achieve with “Thinking EV? Think MG”
• Channel mix and creative message choices
• EV competition and the fight for consideration
• What this means for marketers

What MG is trying to achieve with “Thinking EV? Think MG”

The campaign centers on a direct mental-availability play: when consumers think about electric vehicles, MG wants to be the brand they recall.

MG is also using the campaign to “challenge perceptions” of what an EV brand can look like, while putting its growing EV portfolio in view. The line-up highlighted includes MG4 EV, MG4 EV Urban, MGS5 EV, MGS6 EV, and the Cyberster roadster.

MG Motor Australia marketing director Dimitri Andreatidis positioned the campaign as both a reflection of category evolution and MG’s own development in EVs, with an emphasis on accessibility, choice, and a maturing market.

Channel mix and creative message choices

The media plan is built for reach and repetition, spanning high-attention placements (TV and cinema), broad public visibility (outdoor), and frequency-driving audio and digital (radio and digital).

That mix suits a message designed to be remembered more than explained. “Thinking EV? Think MG” is short, category-triggered, and structured to work as a recall cue across formats, from a quick radio line to a roadside placement.

Using a portfolio, not a single model, also signals breadth. For marketers, that is a deliberate choice: it shifts the conversation from one hero product to a brand-level promise about choice within a category.

EV competition and the fight for consideration

MG’s campaign lands in a crowded Australian EV market, with brands including Kia, BYD, Chery, Polestar, and Zeekr pushing harder into the category.

The competitive pressure is also showing up in broader brand-building activity. BYD, for example, has moved into sports sponsorship, including a deal with A-League Men’s club Melbourne Victory that puts BYD branding on jerseys and across club assets.

There are also signals that marketing is increasingly tied to demand outcomes in the category. A Cross Channel Demand Effectiveness Study by Prophet, BYD Australia, and the Seven Network modelled more than 320,000 test drives and more than US$20 million in media investment, and found marketing activity directly influences almost 40% of EV test drives. The study also found 63% of EV demand is shaped by brand effect and broader macroeconomic factors, and that media-channel efficiency can vary significantly (up to 20 times).

Sales context adds to the intensity. VFACTS May data showed battery electric vehicles reached a record 20% share of the new-car market, while electrified vehicles (including hybrids and plug-in hybrids) accounted for 46.4% of all sales. BYD ranked second overall for May with 8,211 sales (up 154.6% year-on-year), while MG remained in the top 10 with 3,872 sales and a 3.9% market share.

What this means for marketers

EV marketing in Australia is increasingly a “consideration battle,” not just an education problem. MG’s approach offers a few practical lessons about how brands compete when audiences have options and attention is fragmented.

1. Category cues can be more valuable than product claims
   “Thinking EV?” is a category trigger, and “Think MG” is a retrieval instruction. In crowded categories, this kind of structure can outperform feature-led messaging when buyers are still forming shortlists.
2. A broad channel mix supports memory-building
   TV, outdoor, cinema, radio, and digital is not just “more media.” It is a deliberate attempt to repeat the same simple idea in different moments of attention, which matters when you are trying to shape brand associations.
3. Portfolio framing can signal relevance to more buyers
   Highlighting multiple EV models shifts the message from “one vehicle to know” to “a range you can choose from.” That can help move beyond early adopters toward mainstream shoppers who want fit, not novelty.
4. Brand-building is becoming measurable in demand proxies
   With modelling that ties marketing activity to a meaningful share of EV test drives, teams have more reason to treat brand and performance as connected, especially when channel efficiency varies widely.

The deeper point is that as EV penetration rises, the marketing job shifts. It is less about making the category legible and more about earning a stable place in memory when buyers start shopping.

That is why short propositions, repeated consistently, are showing up alongside sponsorships and other brand-building moves. The winners will likely be the brands that can keep a clear, repeatable message while still giving consumers enough reasons to believe the brand fits their needs.