MAN CAVE

TitleMAN CAVE
BrandKIA MOTORS AUSTRALIA
Product / ServiceKIA SPORTAGE
CategoryB02. Consumer Products
EntrantINITIATIVE Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company:INITIATIVE Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Agency:INITIATIVE Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Rochelle Cass Initiative Media Investment Director
Uma Sekar Initiative Strategy Director

Results and Effectiveness

The outstanding success of the Sportage launch has set it as the benchmark for all future KIA launches. • 30,000 people engaged with the KIA Man Cave online site - 1/3 of everyone who bought a Compact SUV in Australia • 17,000 people engaged with the live “Man Caves” and 290 went for a test drive: a Cost per Lead equal to paid search! • KIA appeal lifted 11.7% in just 3 months • 2434 Booked Test Drives, with 740 (30%) buying a Sportage: • 67% increase on sales objectives…. KIA struggled to keep up with the demand!

Creative Execution

We gave him his own Man Cave! This was about both Leveraging existing Man Caves via male skewed TV and print, and Creating Man Caves online and via live experience. At the heart was an online space where he could create his own Man Cave, with the chance to win $10k to fund it, plus a KIA Sportage to put in it! We then created real life Man Caves in shopping centres, inviting our male DINKs to escape from shopping with their partners and experience the Sportage first hand in a male centric environment. KIA Sportage then partnered with the Ultimate Man Cave: “hot off the satellite” Series 15 of BBC Top Gear direct from the UK, and extended the partnership across Top Gear TV, online and print properties. The concept extended into competitive weights of TV programmes and online sites handpicked to reach our younger males (mini Man Caves!).

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The Compact SUV category is the 3rd largest and fastest growing. The All New Sportage was launching with stunning new design and technology, but also an entry price of $26k: $4k more than the previous Sportage model. We had to convince the market to forget everything they thought of the old model, and pay extra for a new one. KIA is a brand largely rejected in Australia as “cheap” and “dull. We identified the core Sportage target as 32 year old male DINKS – typically the biggest KIA rejecters! They are making decisions as a couple, including moving to a shared or more practical vehicle - the first time they have had to compromise about what they want in a car! We needed an engagement platform reflecting deep in Australian men’s psyche is the need to have a ‘shed’ or garage of his own; one place where there is no compromise.