Background
The all new Kia Sportage launched in August 2010 when the company commanded just 2.3 per cent share of the Australian auto market. At the time, the brand was largely rejected as 'cheap' and 'dull'.
Inroads had been made into shifting this perception with the introduction of global designer Peter Schreyer, charged with turning Kia into a design-led company, but the roll out of new designs and therefore perception shifts was slow.
Aim
With this low brand affinity, driving any kind of compelling result was always going to be a major challenge. In addition, the core target segment was identified as 32-year-old males living with their partners – typically the biggest Kia rejecters.
With sales goals of 450 units within the first two months, more than the average monthly sales of the much cheaper model it was replacing, Initiative set out to engage and encourage reappraisal of both Kia and Sportage with a very tough audience.
Execution
The team began by garnering a deep understanding of the category and target audience, attending focus groups to immerse themselves in the target audience.
The agency learnt that while the target audience were impressed with Sportage’s modern styling and specs, “it is still a Kia”.
Through a series of subsequent workshops, they set out to engage at a deeper level than just standard styling and specs communication to define who the target is, their spheres of influence, brand barriers and drivers and purchase triggers.
The insight emerged that these guys were making making big decisions as a couple, particularly around their house and car. This involves lots of compromises. Control was being eroded in most areas, except for the garage – both the space and the car.
Initiative came up with the concept of a 'man cave' as a dedicated area of a house, such as a basement or garage, where a man can be alone or socialise with his friends.
The man cave concept became the central focus of the campaign, delivered at two levels, including creating new man caves and leverage an existing man cave.
To leverage an existing man cave, Kia Sportage partnered with the BBC Top Gear series 15 direct from the UK. This was a bold move for the car maker, having been ridiculed by Top Gear presenters in previous series. They felt the all new Sportage gave them the right to enter this space. The partnership was extended through TV to their online and print properties.
To create man caves, Kia launched a highly interactive and entertaining online promotion encouraging participants to create their own man caves for the chance to win US$10,000 towards funding it plus a Kia Sportage to put in it.
Initiative leveraged the Top Gear and broader TV network partnership to create and place 15 second promotional spots on TV, alongside banners on Topgear.com.au and Ninemsn. Top Gear magazine also showcased a designed man cave in an eight-page gatefold.
In addition, the man cave was recreated in shopping centres, inviting the male target audience to escape from shopping and experience the Sportage first hand in a male centric environment.
Results
The results exceeded all expectations.
30,000 people engaged with the Kia man cave site - one third of everyone who bought a Compact SUV in Australia in 2010. On average, they engaged with the site and car for an average of five minutes.
12,000 entered the competition of which 6,000 opted in for further Kia contact, resulting in a database of engaged consumers for future communications.
The shopping centre man caves engaged with 17,000 people, generating 290 test drives and a cost per lead equal to paid search.
Most importantly, Kia sales were 67 per cent higher than targeted over the first two launch months.
Kia is struggling to keep up with the demand.
Credits:
Campaign KIA Sportage Man Cave
Client KIA
Agency Initiative
