Sonata - Rethink Luxury
Hyundai
Issue 24 | October 2012
Agency
The Jupiter Drawing Room (Cape Town)
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Ross Chowles Creative Director: Livio Tronchin Art Director: Andrew Lang Copywriter: James Armstrong
Production Team
Agency Producer: Imraan Abader
Other Credits
Client Service: Rowan Eva
Date
August 2011
Background
RETHINK LUXURY
If you asked South Africans to think about luxury car brands in their country, we’re sure they wouldn’t think about Hyundai. That was the challenge when launching the new Sonata – a completely re-designed luxury sedan that even the harshest overseas critics were comparing to a Mercedes or Lexus.
To get people to rethink what they knew about luxury cars, we removed the badge and replaced it with a question mark. Teasers were run on TV and in print before the official launch; including a microsite address, where viewers could find out more about the vehicle.
Idea
LAUNCH INVITATION
Motoring journalists overseas were comparing the Sonata to a Lexus or Mercedes. To get the fickle South African motoring media to question their own luxury perceptions, we sent a presentation box containing a large-scale fabric image of the Sonata together with Mercedes and Lexus badges that they could place onto the image.
Results:
Just one month after launch, dealerships across the country had sold out of Sonatas and a waiting list had to be created. The car has exceeded even the client’s expectations, selling at an average rate of 180 per month; and firmly cementing Hyundai’s place in the mid-size luxury market.