Kia Canada Inc. is finally showing its soul. After a three-week TV teaser campaign that featured men mysteriously peering into the living rooms of TV viewers, Kia launched the national branding campaign for its 2010 Soul urban crossover passenger car yesterday.
The three unbranded 15-second TV teasers each ended with the super PeerIntoaSoul.ca (JeMeVoisDansLaSoul.ca in Quebec). The site included the teaser spots as well as interior only shots of a car.
“We decided to do something that would not only intrigue people on TV, but that would drive them to the web and create a lot of curiosity and excitement around what this might be,” said Pat Pirisi, creative director at Publicis, Kia’s agency of record in Canada. “We sparked a conversation and that was the real intent.”
The microsite received 180,000 unique visits since it launched three weeks ago, and garnered a lot of attention on blogs, said Pirisi.
“It was important for us to engage people on the broadcast level and an online level in absolute tandem, because to create a truly integrated campaign one cannot weigh one thing over another,” he said. “You have to create ideas now that are seamless in terms of how they migrate from one medium to another.”
One of the reveal spots entitled “Well” opens with a man whose friend has fallen into a well in the middle of nowhere. He sets off to get help but falls short when he is distracted by a Soul parked out front of a diner where policemen sit inside.
In “Mob” two stereotypically looking mafia gangsters are similarly distracted by the Soul allowing a hooded man to escape from their car behind them. Finally in “Cabin” an apparently blood-thirsty man in a mask walks toward a cabin of young girls but he too is drawn instead to the Soul. The girls awake safely in the morning since the killer has dozed off while peering into the Soul.
“The 30-second spots, what they’re really centred around is the insight about cars,” said Pirisi. “Generally people buy cars or are interested in cars for the very first time on an emotional level. Looks really are what disarms and seduces a potential car buyer.”
The campaign also includes national newspaper and trade magazine ads, dealership point-of-sale materials, and nationwide dealership special events.
“The Soul is a game-changing vehicle, which is why we were thrilled to launch with a campaign that offered a thought-provoking approach to brand strategy and creative execution,” said Greg Hardy, national marketing manager, Kia Canada Inc., in a release. “The Soul is a unique style of vehicle in the Canadian marketplace.”
The teaser campaign included co-branded components, developed in partnership with ZenithOptimedia and Canwest, tied into the highly anticipated return of 24. Soul teasers preceeded exclusive video content from 24 distributed to wireless customers.
The partnership continues with a spy-themed online videogame where would-be secret agents complete puzzles integrated with Soul content, at WinYourSoul.com. The contest closes with a Kia Soul giveaway at Toronto’s Eaton Centre in April.
ZenithOptimedia and Astral Media are also driving contest-themed outdoor, online, radio and TV presence in Quebec, leading up to a Soul giveaway on the night of Britney Spears’ concert at Montreal’s Bell Centre on March 20.
