Finding a balance between regional relevance and global branding
Hyundai Canada has unveiled a new campaign that brings its marketing in line with its “Modern Premium” global positioning.
Three new video ads from Hyundai agency Innocean‘s Canadian office launched this week bearing the tagline “New thinking, new possibilities.”
Using stark lighting and Daft Punk-esque music reminiscent of the film Tron Legacy (fitting, given the film’s star Jeff Bridges provides the voiceover), each ad examines one feature of a Hyundai vehicle. The ads’ settings always transition from a high-tech facility to an everyday road scene (“from our test facility to yours”).
The brand has had success in Canada over the last decade. Annual unit sales have increased from the 50,000 range to the 100,000 range. Market share doubled from 4% to 8% between 2004 and 2010. Despite this, however, Hyundai has identified negative perceptions among car buyers it wishes to address with the new campaign.
“There’s still one area where people don’t think positively about Hyundai, and that’s around well-built and durable products,” said John Vernile, vice-president, marketing, Hyundai Auto Canada. “Our products test very well as tested by J.D. Power and others.” Hence, the ads focus on the quality of the company’s suspensions and transmissions.
Even though the campaign’s direction was broadly defined by Hyundai’s corporate headquarters, Vernile said he still feels they were able to create work relevant to Canadians.
“We now have a global position… but each market is allowed to articulate its own marketing communications,” he said. “We just have to be consistent with the brand DNA… [“Modern Premium”] did not come with creative that we had to adapt to the Canadian market.”
While filmed in Los Angeles, the ads were made specifically for the Canadian market by Innocean, with Canadian post-production companies.
Overall, “Modern Premium” is an attempt to make Hyundai’s image more upscale. However, Vernile is quick to point out the company is not trying to be an out-and-out luxury badge. Traditionally, he said, luxury is about exclusivity rather than quality. “After the recession of not-so-long-ago, we think the new definition of ‘premium’ is very good-quality features and performance that might be unexpected, but at an accessible price.”
Calling out just how different the new message is, Steve Kelleher, president and CEO of Hyundai Auto Canada Corp, said in a release, “For a long time, we focused our marketing efforts on rational, tactical executions to reach an audience primarily concerned about the health of the economy and their personal financial well-being. But, as these commercials show, there’s a lot more to the Hyundai story.”
To promote the new “premium” image, Vernile has been given a larger annual budget to work with. He’s also adjusting his media mix in 2012, focusing more on television (specifically prime time and Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts), out-of-home and print media. He’s also pulling back on online advertising.
This tweaked media plan is meant to not only reach as large an audience in the 19- to 54-year-old range as possible, but address doubts Vernile has about the brand’s current online marketing strategy.
“Quite frankly, I haven’t been happy with the results of our banner advertising so far,” he said. “I’m now wondering if it’s an impression medium or a click medium. I’m having [Innocean] rethink the approach.”
