Broadcast TV: Backslash Drivers
Hyundai uses ABC for a virtual test drive.
Hyundai built its reputation on affordable cars, but went upscale last year with Santa Fe, its entry into the sports utility vehicle segment.
Fountain Valley, CA-based Hyundai started with a major marketing problem: Santa Fe had as-yet only appeared as a demo at car shows, and wasn’t available in dealerships. So how do you let prospective buyers take a spin in a vehicle that hasn’t yet arrived in showrooms?
The brand decided to give shoppers a virtual test drive, and tapped the two most visual marketing media, TV and the Internet, to do so. Broadcast network ABC, New York City, and its ABC.com site offered viewers the chance to Take A Spin with the Hyundai Santa Fe between March 27 and Sept. 24, 2000.
As the exclusive sponsor for an ABC sweepstakes dubbed Virtual Spin, Hyundai placed clickable logo links on ABC.com that let visitors enter for a chance to win a Santa Fe. The brand received promotional placement on the ABC.com home page during the first two weeks of every month, and media rotation on ABC.com for weeks between promotions. The network drove viewers online by incorporating its stars into 10-second promercials: Drew Carey left his glasses in a Santa Fe, while cast members of NYPD Blue ticketed a parked model. Spots were tagged with the URL.
“This is the first time we’ve been presented with a branding program that covered all the bases — promotional value, Internet value, and traditional media value,” says Kevin Mayer, Hyundai America’s national manager of advertising.
Initial development stages for the campaign had to be worked around the Santa Fe’s not-ready-for-prime-time status. “The hardest part was showcasing a car that wasn’t available yet,” says Jan Sage, ABC director of sales promotion. “At first we even had to get images from the demo at the Detroit auto show.”
At the site, consumers were offered the chance to take a 360-degree virtual tour of the Santa Fe’s exterior and interior. They could also e-mail pictures of the SUV to friends. Hyundai conducted market research by asking sweeps entrants how they rated the virtual Santa Fe; whether they were considering purchasing or leasing a car within a given time period; if they were thinking of buying a Hyundai; and whether or not they’d like to receive more information from the company.
Santa Fe banners and buttons rotated throughout ABC.com, including more than 15 sections devoted to prime time shows such as four top-rated soaps, smash hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and The View.
ABC and Hyundai managed to woo car buyers before Santa Fe started rolling off factory lines. “We created an astronomical buzz before the vehicle even hit the show floor,” says Sage, “and at a time when it’s getting harder and harder to get qualified prospects to actually come into dealerships.”
“The highlight for Bates USA and Hyundai was that we were able to … leverage spot activity across more than one market,” says Jennifer Hungerbuhler, associate broadcasting director at Hyundai’s ad agency, Bates USA, Atlanta. “It also afforded us media efficiencies and program access. The Internet program gave Hyundai the ability to allow viewers to ‘experience’ the Santa Fe as well as multiple opportunities to correspond and interact with the visitors.”
In an age of deflating Internet expectations, Take a Spin actually over-delivered by generating 101,414 sweeps entries, of which 16 percent opted in for more information. “The over-delivery was the biggest surprise of the campaign for us,” says Mayer.
Home-page promotional buttons delivered 20 million impressions, more than double ABC’s guarantee of 8.5 million. The online sweeps delivered a combined 236,308 impressions, 140 percent of projections.
On-air, the media rotation racked up 4.3 million impressions, 23 percent more than the guaranteed 3.5 million. According to Mayer, Hyundai is considering running the effort again, with future versions focused more on real-time fulfillment.
The campaign was handled by Bates USA, and in-house by ABC Full Circle Promotion, New York City.
Supporting Cast
Kevin Mayer, Hyundai
Jan Sage, ABC
Ann Porterfield, ABC.com
Jennifer Hungerbuhler, Bates USA
