Hyundai Canada’s quest to elevate its brand continues with the “H Factor,” a campaign that focuses on design, durability and performance.
The “H-Factor,” developed by the brand’s agency of record, Innocean Worldwide Canada, kicked off with a 60-second spot that ran during the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. That ad is currently running on primetime television, and will air during the Canadian broadcast of the Academy Awards on Feb. 22.
Set to the hit song “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, the ad depicts the journey of a Hyundai all the way through design, engineering, durability testing and driving. It concludes with a shot of actor Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge (Hyundai’s spokesperson in Quebec since 2008) stepping out of a Genesis sedan with a smile.
The “H-Factor” is in line with Hyundai’s “Modern Premium “global positioning. Adopted in 2012, “Modern Premium” is an attempt to upscale the brand, and squash negative preconceptions.
“With ‘H-Factor,’ we want to communicate to customers that may have been a little too quick to dismiss our brand in the past, and convince them to reconsider their pre-conceived notions about what Hyundai can offer,” Jennifer Dobbs, director of marketing at Hyundai Auto Canada Corp, told Marketing.
“Hyundai has been in Canada for over 30 years. For much of that time, our products were the rational choice. We want to evolve to become more desirable for emotional reasons and elevate our brand into a more premium space,” she added. “We’ve done this by investing in design and cutting-edge engineering for our products. We’re also at the beginning of a new image program for our dealership network and rolling-out a new dealership training program for sales and service.”
Dobbs, who identified Hyundai’s main competitors as running the gamut from other mass-market import brands to premium European automakers, said the brand is thriving in Canada, with “a decade of “year-over-year sales records.”
“Clearly, this approach is resonating with Canadians,” she said.
The “H Factor” runs until March, and also includes digital and social. In addition to creative, Innocean also handled production and the media buy.
