CERATO GT "GET MEAN"

Short List
TitleCERATO GT "GET MEAN"
BrandKIA
Product / ServiceCERATO
CategoryA05. Automotive
EntrantKIA MOTORS AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation INNOCEAN WORLDWIDE AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement HAVAS MEDIA AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production THE POOL COLLECTIVE Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production 2 HECKLER Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production 3 CODE ON CANVAS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production 4 NYLON STUDIOS Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Steve Jackson Innocean Worldwide Executive Creative Director
Paul Bruce Innocean Worldwide Creative Director
Roy Leibowitz Innocean Worldwide Senior Copywriter
Chris Wilson Innocean Worldwide Senior Art Director
Craig Sloane Innocean Worldwide Executive Producer
Warrick Nicholson Innocean Worldwide Production Director
Trevor Crossman Innocean Worldwide Digital DIrector
Jye Calder Innocean Worldwide Digital Producer
Simon Harsent Pool Collective Photographer
Jamie Clift Innocean Worldwide Group Business Director
Amber Lowings Innocean Worldwide Account Manager
Will Alexander Heckler Executive Producer
Serena Rettenmaier Heckler Line Producer
Amy Jarman Heckler Post Producer
Simon Lister Nylon Studios Sound Designer

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

The Cerato 'Get Mean' activation was a playable game housed in a booth that ran for two weeks during the Kia sponsored Australian Open of tennis.

Background

Much of Kia’s growth over the past 10 years had come from conservative middle Australia who chose Kia and their top selling Cerato model almost exclusively because it represented ‘value for money’. It’s a sensible choice. For many, Kia is the cheap alternative to the car they really want. The brief was to shift the perspective, to inject more personality and attitude into the Kia brand, making it more desirable on an emotional rather than level. We needed to lift the brand association. And sell more Ceratos.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

You can't make the mean sounds of the Kia Cerato GT without looking mean too. We used this to put the Kia Cerato GT's attitude on full display. We developed an activation where players could race the Cerato GT around a virtual track, controlling the GT by replicating its mean sounds. The meaner you sounded, the faster you went. Cameras in the activation captured the mean faces they pulled along the way. These mean faces were beamed to digital OOH in the area, giving the players a chance to see themselves up on the big screen at one of Australia's biggest sporting events, where they became the face of our campaign.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Changing perceptions of Kia required us to do more than a conventional automotive launch campaign. We needed to do something that would force reappraisal of the brand. Whilst the typical Cerato buyer profile was older and more conservative, Cerato GT represented an opportunity to open a conversation with a younger, more progressive and performance driven audience who had fewer pre-conceived negative perceptions of Kia. In order for them to engage with our brand, we wanted them to participate in our campaign, not simply view it. Our aim was to use the performance of the GT to create a halo over both the Cerato range and the Kia masterbrand. Our strategy was to invite participation and our proposition was ‘It’s the Cerato, only meaner’. We wanted to be bold, impactful and surprise the market with an idea that was unexpected for Kia and the broader automotive category.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

In the week prior to the Australian Open, we adapted a game we had built for mobile, putting it into a specially designed booth to be placed in Melbournes CBD. Running for the two weeks of the event, the booth was fitted with digital screens, sound recording devices and cameras that beamed the players faces onto digital OOH outside. The activation booth was clad in screens broadcasting the action inside to the hundreds of thousands of spectators in town for the event.

List the results (30% of vote)

The activation contributed to these results. 68% higher sponsorship association than the next Australian Open partner. January 2019 became Kia Australia’s most successful month ever. Dealers had to put the GT on backorder, and asked head office to up the price! But most importantly, the brand transformation had begun. We were seen as being more sporty (+%60), with greater performance (+%50), technologically advanced (+%37%). And most importantly, we were seen as being cooler (+50%). Adnews even called Kia ‘The Real Winner of the Australian Open”.