25_KiaCars.pdf

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25_KiaCars

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A small bit of historyKia Cars had a troubled start in the UK car market. The marque had beenlaunched in the UK in 1991 with (eventually) three models,1 featuring as its mostpopular, the Pride, a basic car aimed at the budget end of the market, in the days

when this often meant cheap.However, with the emerging-markets crisis in 1997, Kia was unable to maintain

its position in the UK, and withdrew. In 1999, with the South Korean economypatched up and its companies in a position to recommence exporting all over the

world, Kia decided to make another foray selling budget cars in the UK. It thencame to MML with a relaunch brief. We now faced the Kia Challenge.

The Kia ChallengeSo what would the UK want with another budget car? Theres Daewoo, Proton,Daihatsu, Hyundai, Nissan, Suzuki, Skoda one of the most competitive marketsaround. And, to cap that, Kia had a media budget of around 1.3 million for thefirst year, when theres a spend of 600 million for the total car market. How do

we get the brand remotely off the ground?

Where do we start?In the 1930s, each car model was very different from others on the market.

However, today, all new cars are pretty similar. There are some small differences,but due to strict regulation and technological advancements, the variation ispretty small. New cars are affordable (on the whole!), reliable, safe, comfortableand embrace technological advances. A differentiating position would have tocome from something beyond the product itself.

Kia came to us with some initial thoughts, one of which was that their range waspriced similarly across the whole of Europe, unlike other car manufacturers at thetime. This was a good start, but it still meant we were talking about cars beingcheap. How do we move on?

Our budget meant we had to find an angle that was so powerful that wed getthe cut-through we needed. So, instead of group discussions, we turned to the

source of all things topical: newspapers. From their pages, the message was clear.One of the key public concerns was about rip off Britain, of which carmanufacturers were seen to be key players. Reports abounded in the press of howcar makers saw the UK as Treasure Island, of how to buy a car from theContinent; tabloid editorials fumed and raged, motoring editors devotedthousands of column inches. The increasing popularity of the internet led to aplethora of dot coms offering cars from Europe at cheaper prices. The consumerschampion, Richard Branson got involved setting up a website to import cars.

Our first insight was simply to take this and turn it on its head: it meant that4

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any car being sold as inexpensively as the Kia range in the UK could be positionedas not cheap but fairly priced across all European markets. It was othermanufacturers who were ripping off the consumer.

We produced a series of consumer-champion print ads highlighting theEuropean pricing differential, with headlines like Fool Britannia? Car manu-facturers have been doing it for years, Worried that car manufacturers areripping you off? You should be and UK car prices are a joke. And its at yourexpense.

This strategy would also help us garner positive PR, allowing the tiny adver-tising spend to be supplemented by free column inches in praise of Kia and theirconsumer-friendly attitude.

All good things come to an endThis strategy had a fixed time frame. Sooner or later, the bigger car manufacturers

were going to feel the heat of consumer ire and reduce their prices. A consumercampaign was gathering momentum; people were holding off buying new carsuntil prices came down. Car sales fell. And, in time, manufacturers seemingly caved in.

In fact, Brussels issued a timely Very Important Directive to say that soon carmanufacturers would have to price cars within 12% of each other in every market

in Europe. This would be done at pain of the manufacturers having their bananasforcibly straightened, or some other such horrible forfeit.

A price message was a good start but ultimately, cheap still means cheap andour advantage was about to erode. We needed to add some breadth and emotionalresonance to the brand. How? The answer came from what was happening in the

world of motoring an even bigger issue than that of pricing.

Whats it like out there in the real world?Again, we looked for a topical issue to give us the breakthrough we needed.Inspiration struck from an unlikely source: a Panoramainvestigation into motoringtoday. It provided a very clear message from the outside world.

Motoring wasnt the pleasure that it used to be by any stretch of the imagination.The idea of going for a spin on the open road seemed as quaintly nostalgic asBrideshead Revisited. Everyone drove everywhere all the time. Roads were filled to capacity. Everything was geared around the car. Lots of families owned two or more. All the pleasure was gone.

Instead we had congestion, pollution, contraflows, Swampy, drink (and drug)5

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driving, road rage, fuel protests, global warming, school runs, joyriding, gridlock. Asthma was the fastest growing disease in the UK. One billion car journeys made in the UK each year were less than one mile.Interviews with parents, motoring groups, environmental organisations, localcouncils and even the odd group discussion revealed the same thing.

And what was most interesting for us was that nearly all car advertisingcompletely ignored the basic realities of driving in Britain today. It was talking aradically different idea of motoring: not even aspiration, but so far removed from

reality as to be irrelevant and annoying. Its either some beautiful woman gettinginto or out of a vehicle, or a car speeding along some empty road in an exoticlocation: Tuscany, the Californian Desert, Canada. Only a couple of ads, such asthe VW ad about car comfort, where a man sits in an endless sea of traffic andrelaxes got anywhere near motoring reality.

So what possible relevance is this motoring reality to a car company? Arentthey on the wrong side: the side that wants us to buy more cars, and use themmore and more often?

How could we use this?It occurred to us from talking to various interest and pressure groups that anyonerunning a car company shouldnt be just in the business of selling cars theyre

in the business of making motoring more enjoyable again. To do that you need towork in harmony with other forms of transport: cycling, walking, bus, train... Carsare just one tool among many. So how could we go about making motoringenjoyable again?

Breakthrough: Response MotoringThe answer lies in the key phrase that was to become the cornerstone of ourstrategy for Kia: Think before you drive. If the driving experience in Britain isever going to be enjoyable again, we are collectively going to have to rethink how

we use our cars. This doesnt mean dissuading them from buying a car in the firstplace, it means encouraging them to use them more responsibly to see them as

one of many transport choices, not the only solution.Over one billion car journeys per annum are less than a mile. We insist ondriving our kids to school yet childhood obesity is growing. People drive to thegym to take exercise. Doesnt this all seem slightly perverse?

Not using the car all the time would result in increased fitness, less pollution,less congestion, fewer accidents and a reduction in obesity. In other words, moreenjoyable.

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Whats in it for Kia?There were four very good reasons why promoting responsible motoring was rightfor Kia.1. Responsible motoring gave a new company with a minute marketing budget areal way to achieve cut-through by focussing on an issue that people carepassionately about.2. Only a new entrant to the car market, unencumbered by volume anduntarnished by a history of motoring irresponsibility could really claim this.

3. Motoring responsibility goes beyond the product. As stated above, there is verylittle real product differentiation in the car market. Responsible motoring allowsKia a uniquely differentiating position without needing a uniquely differentiatedproduct.4. It gave people a real, emotional justification to buy what would otherwise be

just another budget car.

InitiativesFor such a radical strategy to work, it was clear that it would not be enough just totalk about it in advertising: the whole ethos of the company would have to reflecta real commitment to responsible motoring. It would have to be done withintegrity.

What would it mean in practice? How can a car company get a message asseemingly counterintuitive as Dont necessarily use your car across to a cynicalpublic?

We came up with the idea of offering Responsible Motoring Initiatives thatcame as part of the integral spec of each car purchased, which would show thebuyer that we were serious about responsible motoring or think before you driveand encourage anyone who bought a Kia to think, and behave, more responsibly.This began with the launch of the seven-seater MPV, the Sedona. Not only was itresponsibly priced (within the price range of hard-working families on a budget

who needed it most), it came with a mountain bike as part of the spec for use onshort journeys. With the mini-MPV, the Carens, Kia offer an RAC risk reduction

course.2 Finally, with the launch of the new family car, the Rio, Kia offer every-thing you need to set up a Walking Bus3 in the school of your choice.

Kia also sponsor the British Heart Foundations Walking Your Way to Healthcampaign, which encourages people to walk more, in order to help preventdisease. The entire Kia marketing department plus folk from their variousagencies took part in the London to Brighton bike ride this year, which was a realsuccess.

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The creativeThe European pricing strategy was presented in a print campaign with anirreverent, cheeky tone of voice, ready to take a pop at the competition. As thestrategy developed, the creative work followed suit, employing a two-prongedstrategy: one honing in on the inflated prices of competitors (responsible pricing)and the other promoting the initiatives associated with each model (responsiblemotoring). All the advertising ended with the strapline: Think before you drive.The most recent TV work launching the new Rio focussed on the Walking Bus, as

this was a scheme which had a real chance of impacting the lives of families withyoung children: the people whod buy the Rio.

ResultThe idea of responsible motoring has not only helped to promote an ethicalapproach to car use a unique first for a car manufacturer it has producedadvertising unique to the car market. No more skinny women or Tuscan roads its work that acknowledges the reality of driving today, the issues that face themotorist, and actually does something to improve it.

Despite the tiny marketing budget (especially by car market standards), Kiabecame the fastest growing car marque in the UK in 2000, with sales up 80% on1999 figures.

We achieved success on the PR front too: Kia was inevitably the hero of all thefuming editorials regarding the European price issue.

Pressure groups like the Environmental Transport Association, Friends of theEarth and also the Department of Transport have been keen to get involved withKia to promote responsible motoring. Were the only car company featured on theDTLR Think!campaign website.

Kia achieved a 0.6% share of the car market in the first year. Comparing spendswith Daewoo, Kia spent 1.3m in 1999 to achieve this, whereas it took Daewoo14.8m in 1995 to achieve just over 1% share thats over seven times moreeffective.

1 Pride, Shuma and Mentor2 A scheme designed by the RAC to cut accidents by educating drivers to be more aware of the risks

around them.3 The school run is the second single biggest cause of congestion. A Walking Bus is a safe way of

getting children to school on foot. Its a group of kids walking together in a line that follows a set

route to the school every morning, like a bus, picking up passengers at designated bus stops. The

bus is driven and conducted by volunteer parents.


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