Hyundai Gets Emotional

I have to admit, I am not always a fan of advertisements in the car industry. You see the same stuff over and over again. Cars driving at 100 mph through the desert. Attempts at car dealership humor. And the always popular long picturesque drive. Over the last few years, I've started to really take notice of Hyundai's marketing campaigns and for good reason. They are delivering emotional benefits in a time of uncertainty and it's really starting to payoff.

My approach to branding has always included building a brand based on multiple attributes. All geared towards connecting with a consumer on multiple levels. One of the most important attributes for any brand is the emotional benefit the brand provides the consumer. No matter who the company is and what the product or service they provide there needs to be a well defined emotional benefit. This is a hard sell in some industries. Especially when it involves technology. I can't tell you how many times I've had to ask a room full of technology executives the question "where is the emotion?". It's an easy thing to forget, but it's extremely important to the success of a brand to let the consumer know how you care about them.

Hyundai Assurance delivers trunk loads of brand emotional benefits to their consumers. It started with the groundbreaking, recession proof offer: "Finance or lease any new Hyundai, and if in the next year you lose your income, we'll let you return it." Now it's transformed into a Trade-In Value Guarantee. A program that future-proofs the value of your new Hyundai by guaranteeing today exactly how much it will be worth two, three, or four years from now. Both let the consumer know that it's safe to spend money on a Hyundai. Even in these uncertain times.

The emotional benefit is paying off. Hyundai attracted 538,228 new customers in 2010, which was a 24% increase from the year before (*Hyundai in the News, March 2, 2011). This is a significant growth while other car manufacturer's are struggling. It also helps that they are starting to deliver on style, safety, performance and eco-friendliness. They truly are delivering on their tagline "New Thinking. New Possibilities." which obviously equals new customers. Goes to show, business IS personal and Hyundai is out making a lot of new friends.