THE PROBLEM TO SOLVE

In the same competitive category as Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, Tucson was under-recognized by consumers and under-supported by marketing. This all-new model launch gave Hyundai license to reassert themselves in the segment and steal share from leaders.

Meanwhile, Hyundai had struggled to define itself as a brand. Marketing had long worked product-by-product, without creating a consistent message for consumers. The bigger challenge was to communicate the brand through the product, laying the groundwork for a continued brand narrative.

The insight

When we interviewed US and Korean design leads they told us that in developing this model, they were empowered to re-envision anything: ergonomics, technology, engineering nuances. The result was a laundry list of updates and changes that no marketing could comprehensively capture.

We found a similar mindset among the Tucson target audience who was leveling up in life, calling for new statements of identity and casting off old labels to face their next chapter.

the solution

Like the target audience who was leveling up in life, Tucson had reinvented itself and questioned everything for its best iteration yet.

Creative messaging focused on life’s surprisingly unanswered questions, featuring a star-studded cast of celebrities including Jason Bateman and Mindy Kaling.

This approach did double duty: communicating Hyundai’s always reinventing mentality while giving us a catchy platform to showcase enhancements in design, technology and capability.