KIA’s star-studded campaign for its as-yet-unnamed ute, created by Innocean, has driven off with B&T‘s Campaign of the Month award for March 2024.
The ad featured a list of sporting legends including Ash Barty, Damien Oliver, Buddy Franklin and Dulan Alcott bickering in a pub over what to call the ute.
The spot, which KIA’s general manager, marketing, Dean Norbiato told B&T was an “audacious play,” launched during the NRL double-header in Las Vegas last month and represented a move from the brand into a new segment.
“The car is still over 12 months away. This is a journey from an initial awareness piece to finding the clear space in what is a very mature category dominated by a number of key players. Following this campaign, we’ll be asking whether it resonates, cuts through and the key question of whether it allows the product to stand for what it needs to stand for?” said CMO Power List inductee Norbiato.
“There will be a reveal within the existing environment of the [ute’s] eventual name. There needs to be some level of surprise. If we call this a ‘platform’ and it does resonate with the Australian public, it is something that we could look at for launch down the track as well because we found it a really enjoyable and malleable platform from a creative standpoint,” said Norbiato.
The new ute and campaign have also seen KIA adjust its marketing tactics to ensure the right people are aware of what is to come.
“For this phase, we’re going exceptionally broad but we understand that the tradie market obviously over-indexes in ute purchases. We’re going to be across all major channels including TV, outdoor, digital and radio and we’re going to be very heavy on social. We’ve got quite aggressive targets for the first phase of the campaign,” said Norbiato.
KIA is also set to change its traditional 85/15 per cent metro/regional split, it would be adjusting that to around 65/35 per cent for this new ute. The campaign will also be supported in out-of-home, digital, social and PR.
The campaign has already been cutting through into general culture with the Betoota Advocate already posting its own parody of the move.
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Will the campaign see KIA conquer one of the most hotly contested segments in the Australian automotive scene? We’ll have to wait and see. But, as an ad and a creative approach, we think this one is a winner already.
Credits
- Production Company: Scoundrel
- Creative Director: Ariel Martin
- Creative Agency: Innocean Australia
- Media Agency: Advertising Associates
- PR Agency: Enthral
