THE OPTIMA EXPERIENCE

TitleTHE OPTIMA EXPERIENCE
BrandKIA MOTOR COMPANY AUSTRALIA
Product / ServiceKIA OPTIMA
CategoryB02. Consumer Products
EntrantINITIATIVE Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company:INITIATIVE Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency:SMG RED Pyrmont, AUSTRALIA
Media Agency:INITIATIVE Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Rochelle Cass Initiative Media Investment Director
Josh Martin SMG Red Digital Manager
Uma Sekar Initiative Strategy Director

Results and Effectiveness

- 12,635 people downloaded the app. This was 530% better than interaction levels specified in the objectives! - It was activated 36,000 times and shared with 8 friends so spread to 101,080 people. This represents 56% of people that will buy a medium car in the next year. -There was a 58% increase in Kia Optima searches comparing Jan 2011 with Feb 2011. More importantly the biggest spike was Jan 22, the day that our augmented reality experience launched! - Sales targets were exceeded by 57% for the month of January

Creative Execution

We developed the FIRST EVER AUGMENTED REALITY EXPERIENCE ACTIVATED VIA TV TELECAST, literally bringing the Optima Experience into their living room! AO viewers were invited to download a KIA Optima AR app (from Apple and Android) via a specially developed KIA AR logo that came up on screen for approx 15 seconds in the 1st session of each day. By opening your app and pointing at the logo, an Augmented Reality experience of the new Optima would come alive on your smartphone. This allowed you to view the car in 3D, review the specs, and even change colours! The logo was extended online and in magazine extending the Optima experience beyond the telecast. The Augmented reality app was given the best opportunity for success by promoting it in 15 sec spots during the telecast, a heavy editorial presence on the Yahoo7 online and mobile platforms and amplification via digital PR.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Kia Motors has been a sponsor of the Australian Open Tennis (AO) for 9 years. Our hero model for January 2011 was the all new Kia Optima. It marked a significant change for the Kia brand, however declining AO ratings, the competition and Kia brand perception proved to be a challenge. Our objective was to force reappraisal of the Kia Optima and the AO by facilitating deeper engagement. Inline with our sales goal of 100 cars, engagement was to be measured by 2,000 interactions. Our focus was men 30-50, the key volume driver in the segment . Research revealed that: • Our target had an affinity with new technology, especially when it came to sport. • The route to reappraisal of Kia was an involved experience with the car So to achieve our objectives, we needed to deliver the “Optima Experience” via technology and link this with our AO sponsorship.