Social media continues to lend itself well to telling vehicle owner stories for Hyundai Motor America Inc.
The Fountain Valley automaker recently released the latest video in its ongoing series and social media campaign that began two years ago telling owner stories in a long-form format.
The latest, released just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, tells the tale of an OC buyer who donated a kidney to a stranger. Past stories included an Elantra owner who clocked a million miles on her car.
Videos are released at a cadence of at least two a year, but the ideal is quarterly, according to senior group manager of brand marketing and advertising Monique Kumpis.
Hyundai has two people dedicated to social media marketing, supplemented by its ad agency of record, Innocean USA in Huntington Beach. Videos hit YouTube, then tease out across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Brand/ed Content
Kumpis said owner videos—people who “really embody the brand”—supplement the carmaker’s broader social media framework, including new model launches and product videos.
The latter “are more like walkarounds and helping people understand” the cars, she said. Other social media tactics might support events, “whether it’s auto shows or some of the sponsorships our experiential team is doing.”
Another aim of the social media team is to keep Hyundai’s “pulse on pop culture and what’s going on in the world,” said Kumpis. “This is part of our bigger play, which is both branded content and brand content.”
Branded content includes partnerships, such as that between Hyundai and BuzzFeed; brand content is material the automaker conceives, produces and distributes on its own. Owner videos are of the second type, along with efforts such as influencer marketing.
Hyundai currently links influencers with various vehicles to produce marketing material and Kumpis said its current strategy there is humming along nicely.
“Where we are right now is the place to be,” she said. “We’re thoughtful in our selection and we’re handpicking. It’s not something that we’re just looking straight at the numbers.”
