Innocean Australia has created an Aussie zombie apocalypse world to showcase Kia’s range of electric vehicles with the aid of international director Francois Rousselet from Division.
With scores of EVs entering the Australian market, Innocean tapped the trending zombie genre to increase awareness of Kia’s new range of EVs in a way never seen before on Australian TV.
To do this, they had to ask some out-of-this-world questions. What would everyday life in Australia be like during a zombie apocalypse? How would we pop off to the shops, keep our drinks cool, or find our way around?
Kia answers these questions in a tongue n’ cheek manner, as they show that their blissfully quiet EV5, and EV9 allow you to get on with life, even if you’re living in a world inhabited by zombies.
By heroing features such as Remote Smart Park Assist, Cooling Storage and Kia Voice Command, we see our protagonists silently go under the radar and thrive in the post-apocalyptic world.
In his first work in this country and fresh from directing the latest John Lewis Christmas spot and films for A$AP Rocky and the Rolling Stones, the famed French director had a vision to show Kia EV drivers, effortlessly navigating a suburban paradise gone awry.
The unique narrative that features a 90’, 60’ and multiple 30’, 15’ and 10’ second edits, interweave three apocalyptic storylines that all culminate at the epicentre of the campaign, a quintessentially suburban Aussie shopping centre – Jacaranda Plaza.
Brought to life in meticulous detail, a trademark of his previous work, the sunny streets of the Australian suburbia were overrun with more than a hundred movement artists all expertly transformed into Aussie zombies.
Launching on January 12th, the campaign leverages Kia’s Australian Open Sponsorship and its enormous viewership. We created bespoke PTC content with our lead actors that told more of their thriving in the apocalypse story and worked with content creators to expand the world we built, even in the apocalypse creators are hustling.
Following on from the success of the ‘Kia’s getting a ute” campaign in 2024, Kia Australia General Manager of Marketing, Dean Norbiato, is again backing creativity as a key player in their marketing strategy.
“A zombie apocalypse set against sunny Australian suburbia is a pretty unique creative playground to showcase Kia’s EV range in a genuinely entertaining way,” he said.
“We wanted to capture that laid-back Aussie spirit and ingenuity and distinctively showcase the role our range of electric vehicles, and their features, would play in a fantasy zombie world.”
Innocean Creative Directors Nick Cole & Pat Allenby also echoed Norbiato’s sentiment in the role that being bold and creative played in their first campaign with the agency. “As the EV market grows, so too does the ambition of Kia to deliver truly bold and unexpected work. With the masterful direction of Francois Rouselett and the ridiculously hard work of the team around him, we’ve created a campaign that aims to entertain, underpinned by the news that Kia now has a complete range of EVs”.
Talent in the campaign was headlined by Aussie Luke Arnold who played INXS singer Michael Hutchence in the INXS miniseries, Tess Haubrich recently in Spiderhead with Chris Hemsworth and Chloe Zuel fresh off the back of playing Elizabeth Hamilton in the stage musical Hamilton. The campaign also included a special guest appearance from Jamie Durie, as he contorted and gave the best ‘zombie tradie’ performance of his career.
Credits
Client: Kia General Manager – Marketing: Dean Norbiato Brand Manager: Brendan McGrath Social Media and Content Coordinator: Denisha Philipthas Digital Marketing Manager: Tim Manning Retail Marketing Assistant Manager – Fion De Silva Marketing & Facilities Co-ordinator – Brígh Robinson
Agency: Innocean Produced by DIVISION Director François Rousselet MD | Executive Producer Geneviève Triquet Producer Melissa Weinman
DOP Simon Duggan
Production Designer Michael Iacono
Costume Designer Matt Stegh Key Makeup Hair Mat Hornby
Casting Director Danny Long Casting
Editor Adam Wills
Post House MATHEMATIC
Executive Producer & CEO Guillaume Marien
Executive Producer Jade Schiff Post Producer Nicolas Bianchi Supervisor VFX Thomas Dairain Colorist Arthur Paux
Music and Sound by MassiveMusic Sound Designer: Simon Kane
