UltraTech Cement Strategy: Practice Interview 2

Getting into UltraTech Cement Strategy Role: A Practice Interview - Part 2

One of our students from a highly reputed two year MBA program had a shortlist for a Strategy Role in UltraTech Cement. We asked our mentor Kartik Aggarwal to conduct her interview, since he had not only cracked similar roles but also had experience working in Strategy roles across conglomerates and manufacturing companies.

In the Part 1 of the interview, Kartik takes us through questions on Why Strategy, What is Strategy, Growth Drivers, Value Chain, Competitor Analysis and Customer Engagement.

Here is Part 2 of the Interview, where he takes the student through two case studies.

Kartik: Suppose you were to create a digital marketing strategy for a cement manufacturer. How would you go about it? What platforms would you use? And what KPIs would you track?

Mentee: Sure. May I take a minute to collect my thoughts?

Kartik: Yes, please

Mentee: To begin with, we need to define the objective. For a cement brand, I see three goals:

Reinforce brand visibility,
Establish thought leadership,
Build and maintain high-quality B2B relationships.

The target audience would mainly be dealers, contractors, builders, architects—essentially B2B decision-makers. Homeowners often rely on the advice of these intermediaries.

Kartik: Makes sense. Go on.

Mentee: I’d break the strategy into three parts:

Website and SEO – Optimize pages with keywords and meta tags, publish blogs and case studies from recent projects to improve discoverability and credibility.
LinkedIn Thought Leadership – Share articles by leadership, industry trends, and company updates to engage professionals in the space.

Account-Based Email Marketing (ABM) – Maintain high-touch, personalized communication with key clients via tailored emails and campaigns.

Kartik: Great. What KPIs would you use?

Mentee: For the website and blog content, I’d measure Click-through rate (CTR), Time on page and Bounce rate. For LinkedIn I would look at Post engagement (likes, shares, comments), Profile visits and Follower growth. For ABM and email marketing, I would look at Open rate, Click rate, Form submissions, Lead conversions and follow-up meetings set.

Kartik: Can we also do targeted marketing to customer segments like architects, procurement managers, real estate developers?

Mentee: Absolutely. Paid marketing can help us directly target those segments. But even within our organic strategy—through LinkedIn targeting, SEO keywords, and email segmentation—we can focus on them. These individuals often already interact with sales teams or visit our website, so multi-touch digital strategies work well.

Kartik: Got it. Lets do one more. If UltraTech Cement were to acquire another organization, can you walk me through the high-level steps involved in a typical M&A process? Just very top-level—what are the broad steps you’d follow in an acquisition?

Mentee: I think the first step would be conducting thorough internal research on UltraTech’s side—looking at the potential target’s financials, projections, market position, and overall strategic fit.

Kartik Aggarwal: Right. But even before that—you need clarity on the strategic intent. What’s the purpose of the acquisition?

Mentee: Yes—whether the intent is to consolidate market share, expand into a new geography, eliminate competition, or leverage synergies like existing customer base, technology, or talent. It makes more sense to acquire something established rather than build from scratch, which is time-consuming and resource-heavy.

Kartik Aggarwal: Exactly. So step one is defining the acquisition strategy—what are you trying to achieve: market expansion, synergy, product portfolio addition, or something else?

Kartik Aggarwal: Step two would be evaluating the company—looking at their business, finances, market position, and validating whether the synergy or strategic benefits really exist.

Mentee: Yes. Once we validate that, then we move into valuation—figuring out what the company is worth. Then comes the actual deal execution—signing agreements and completing the acquisition or merger. And finally, there’s the post-merger integration phase—setting the culture, aligning processes, and ensuring that synergies are realized.

Kartik Aggarwal: Can you estimate the number of baby diapers that are sold in India in one year? Basically, try to estimate the market size of baby diapers in terms of units sold annually.

Mentee: Okay, just give me a couple of minutes to structure my thoughts.

Kartik Aggarwal: That’s fine—but start with your high-level approach. Don’t go into the numbers yet.

Mentee: Sure. So first, I’d start with the total population of India. From there, I’d apply the birth rate per thousand to estimate the number of babies born each year.

Kartik Aggarwal: Good. Go on.

Mentee: That gives the annual number of newborns. Then, I’d consider the relevant age cohort—say children aged 0 to 3 years—since they’re the primary users of diapers. Once I have the 0–3 year population, I’d estimate the percentage of those who actually use diapers—say around 40–50%, considering urban-rural differences and affordability. Then, I’d assume average daily diaper usage—maybe 3 to 4 diapers per baby per day. Multiply that by the number of diaper-using babies, then by 365 days—to get the annual diaper consumption.

Kartik Aggarwal: Sounds good. Nice structured thinking. Let me now share my overall feedback

Kartik Aggarwal: So, honestly, your answers were okay—but I didn’t see much conviction, especially when you answered “Why this role?” It felt like you were still thinking it through while speaking. Your energy and clarity dropped compared to other parts where you were more confident.

Kartik Aggarwal: See, we’re all mature professionals. We’ve worked, done our MBA—and by now, we’re expected to be clear about our choices. Right now, you’re sort of riding two boats—marketing and strategy. That sends mixed signals. If strategy isn’t your first choice, that’s fine—but you need to show you’ve thought it through and that you’re committed to making it work.

Kartik Aggarwal: Also, don’t forget—this role will require a lot of stakeholder and people management. Talk about that. Show that you’re someone who can lead, handle teams, and get things done. That adds a lot of weight.

Kartik Aggarwal: You’ve done well on some parts—your guesstimate was solid, and your behavioral answers were strong too. So that’s clearly your strength. And you have a solid background in marketing—use that! Brush up on some key concepts and think about how they can connect back to this role.

Kartik Aggarwal: When you talk about “Why this role,” make sure you cover:

How it fits into your career goals
How you’ll add value to the team
And what excites you about working at UltraTech or in the Aditya Birla Group—brand, scale, learning opportunities, anything that’s genuine for you.

Kartik Aggarwal: You have the capability, confidence, and experience. You’ve even been helping students, which says a lot about your initiative. Now just back it up with focused prep, and you’ll do well.

Kartik Aggarwal: All the best. Spend one hour on this—it’ll go a long way.

One of the biggest advantages of GoCrackIt’s platform is its flexibility—you can schedule mock interviews online at times that work best for you, without geographical limitations. Their pool of industry experts spans across different roles and companies, ensuring that your mock interview preparation is relevant to your target job. With focused online interview practice, you can work on areas like problem-solving, behavioral responses, or technical deep-dives, depending on your unique needs and goals.

Getting into UltraTech Cement Strategy Role: A Practice Interview - Part 2

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