In 2007, Hyundai was facing a dire problem with its brand: It repelled people. Research had found that attaching the Hyundai badge to a car actually reduced purchase consideration by 19%. We needed to cleanse consumers’ palettes and reframe their perceptions. And so, we unveiled a campaign that began with something radical: We hid the brand. Specifically, we created print ads, out-of-home, and online banners that were completely unbranded. And the arrestingly simple and thought-provoking TV spots had as little branding as the FCC would allow. A bold-faced act of confidence from a car company in need of an image overhaul.

We obviously needed to cleanse the consumer’s palette. Open their eyes. We did this with a campaign that rolled out in two phases.In the first, we did something radical: we hid the brand. Knowing that no one would pay attention otherwise, we created print ads, out-of-home, and online banners that were completely unbranded. No logos anywhere. The TV spots had as little branding as the FCC would allow. The goal was to elevate the conversation and reframe the conversation. With our proverbial foot in the door, we then introduced branded work that presented a Hyundai no one had seen before— confident, straight talking, and thoughtful.