Background

Going way back to the original Toyota RAV 4 launch, the SUV has become synonymous with a 'young-at-heart' audience, chasing recreation and the 'Australian desire' to get out of the city to explore picturesque terrains. Now, with Australia being one of the largest and most competitive new-car markets in the world and the advertising efforts of the automotive industry leaving much to be desired - particularly in the overly saturated, emerging SUV category - we had our work cut out for us, when tasked with the online launch of the Hyundai Venue. Briefed with driving awareness and consideration for the Hyundai Venue, our goal became clear; challenge the stagnant sector's orthodoxies in ways that our competitors could have never imagined to reach a new untapped audience segment. Whilst our competitors spent millions on television campaigns, we had a total media and production budget of $635,000 to do something ground-breaking.

Describe the strategy

The current car buyer's average age is now 40+ and primarily women, which is the segment most significantly under-served by auto advertising. Overall this group desired practical reassurance during the decision making process, delivered in easily digestible ways, while appreciating a sense of humorous personality in the media they consume. So, the key to cutting through and connecting with this audience was striking a balance between practicality and personality. With data showing that over 73% of car buyers use online auto research and social media as their primary, most trusted source of information when buying a car, we realised something - online auto reviews were stuck in the past, being long winded articles aimed at car geeks. Data also showed that online attention spans are now just 4.1 seconds. With these insights, we understood we had to take a more punchy, impactful and targeted approach to make a lasting impression.

Describe the execution

Welcome to Hyundai Venue 4-Second Reviews. 30 blink-and-you’ll-miss-them car reviews, from a range of motoring ‘experts’ – including a dog, a time traveller, a flat earther and a cactus, to name a few, all lending their unique perspectives. The five-month campaign (November 2019 - March 2020) was built around sophisticated audience data analysis, which matched different car features to our audience’s interests, like technology, safety and saving money. The personalised content we created entertained and informed in equal measure. What’s more, to garner some affordable celeb cred, we convinced six of our target audience’s favourite 90's and noughties celebrities to come along for the ride - Flava Flav, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Cory Feldman, Carson Kressley, Tori Spelling and Lance Bass.

List the results

Our #4SecondReviews broke every digital media benchmark Hyundai had in Australia. With a small paid media budget of just $360,000, the campaign had over 6 million complete views. We saw a radical increase in time spent on the Hyundai site, averaging 4.4 minutes, compared to the site’s average of 1.5 minutes over the same period. SSOV exploded, tripling positive sentiment towards the brand during the campaign period and outperforming the Australian auto brand average. Advertising recall increased by 58%, and amongst the new target audience, consideration of the Hyundai Venue rose by 72%. The campaign smashed Hyundai’s online test-drive benchmark and drove a staggering $12 million in Hyundai Venue sales - all from a total investment of just under $650,000. Faced with the challenges of a small budget and a vastly over-saturated market, this campaign resulted in the most successful Hyundai launch in the Australian market ever.