Orange County’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor America, scored more points than the Los Angeles Rams last week at Super Bowl 53.
The Fountain Valley-based company tapped agency of record, Innocean USA, to promote its Shopper Assurance program with the help of actor Jason Bateman for a 60-second spot titled “The Elevator,” that aired in the first quarter of the game.
An extended version of the commercial—estimated to cost Hyundai at least $10 million to air during the big game—debuted around the same time online and on social media.
Initial feedback suggests the pitch scored a touchdown.
USA Today’s Ad Meter ranked the commercial No. 4 among all ads played during the most-watched television event of the year, while Cars.com noted that it saw more Hyundai-focused traffic flock to its website following the ad than for any other car company advertising during the game.
Game Planning
Innocean Executive Creative Director Barney Goldberg said his Huntington Beach-based company’s creative team began hashing out ideas for the ad spot in July.
The ad firm knew the car company wanted to bring the laughs this year—a sharp contrast compared to its previous two Super Bowl commercials, which were more heartfelt.
As such, it quickly knew Bateman—movie star and part of the “Arrested Development” television show that often spoofs Newport Beach and OC—would be the perfect fit.
“He just had that perfect blend—great sense of humor, witty and he gets a zing in there but he’s so friendly you don’t realize he got you a little bit,” Goldberg said.
“[We] understand that it’s a big party and people are there to react and engage with you. You don’t want to sell too hard. You want to be the right party guest.”
While the spot debuted on CBS a few days before the big game, Hyundai Chief Marketing Officer Dean Evans said that the Super Bowl is one of the few opportunities where consumers are “tuned in at one time and one place … and why we [are] there.”
The commercial will also help kick off a larger marketing campaign slated for spring centered on Hyundai’s Shopper Assurance program.
“It’s not a—we run a Super Bowl spot and kind of forget about it. This is something that Dean and Hyundai, our client, is passionate about,” Goldberg said.
“We’ll be changing the way people shop for cars. There will definitely be more work that supports it and explains it.”
Heaven or Hell?
Shopping for a car can be either a pleasant or horrible experience, but it’s often the latter.
Hyundai introduced its Shopper Assurance program last year in an effort to make the car buying experience painless. The program allows buyers to receive online pricing, schedule test drives, and streamline purchasing—while offering a three-day exchange policy.
The ad features a couple entering a packed elevator with Bateman as the operator.
When he finds out they’re going car shopping, he retorts “Ah, you’re going down, way down.”
The elevator descends stopping at floors like “root canal,” “middle seat” and “vegan dinner party.” Bateman ultimately finds the couple is using Shopper Assurance and proceeds to take them back up where they’re greeted by a Hyundai Palisade, first presented at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show.
During its CBS debut, Bateman said it was “a snappy concept” where he was “piloting this elevator to hell.”
“It’s the highlight of the year,” he deadpanned, describing the Super Bowl commercial. “You can have your Golden Globes. It’s early in the year and it’s all downhill from here.”
The ad was filmed at Universal Studios and directed by Jim Jenkins, partner at production firm O Positive Films.
Playbook
Goldberg, who joined Innocean in 2013 and was promoted to his current post at the end of last year, said his team’s playbook mirrored that of a football coach—they started with over a hundred potential ideas before narrowing it down to the final spot.
He added that it’s a long process involving a number of people from producers to strategists, but it’s worth the effort when the ad receives positive feedback.
Mostly positive, at least. A few vegan-food groups expressed dismay in their portrayal in the commercial, according to national news reports.
“I think my years of TV watching that my parents were worried about paid off,” Goldberg said. “It’s funny, advertising is mandated inspiration because you don’t have months to sit around and wait for [it]. What I look for and my meter is, ‘Will people relate to this and feel [we] understand?’”
Innocean ranks No. 2 among OC’s largest advertising agencies, with about $340 million in revenue for the 12 months ended December 2017, according to Business Journal data. Car companies make up some of its largest accounts. It’s worked with locally-based Kia Motors America and Genesis, also owned by Hyundai Motor Group, in recent years.
At Your Service
Hyundai has made efforts to shake up its portfolio and this year it has 10 new or enhanced models. It reported last week a 2.9% increase in sales for the month, selling 40,796 units.
The automaker created a lot of buzz around its Super Bowl spot, but the commercial also signals the end of its four-year partnership with the NFL as the official vehicle sponsor.
However, it’s still involved in the games. Last year, it landed the sponsorship rights for the NFL’s “Sunday Night Kickoff” show on NBC.
Evans said though it will not be the official NFL vehicle during the 2019 Detroit Auto Show, marketing efforts around NFL programming will still play an important role in its marketing strategy.
Evans told the Business Journal at the LA Auto Show last November that its marketing message this year will emphasize the customer experience.
“Auto brands have a tendency to fall in love with the vehicle,” he said. “If we have this technology that nobody else has—guess what, six months later our competition does. It doesn’t stay a competitive advantage for too long so at Hyundai we’ve been saying, ‘What is this other differentiator?’ Well, [it’s] customer experience.”
He said two years ago Hyundai was taking the longest time out of any major company to sell consumers a car, nearly six hours.
The No. 1 automaker was Subaru, whose sales process took about four hours.
Hyundai introduced its Shopper Assurance program to help customers save time and Evans said last year the program processed about 300,000 people with 700 of its 800 dealerships opting into the program.
“So experience plus cars, that’s our formula.”
