Australians are obsessed with utility vehicles. Or as Aussies like to call ‘em: utes.

Unlike any other car category, Australia’s ute market over-indexes in rural and regional communities (53%) with the largely male audience (87%) caring the most about two things in the world.

The pub and sport. And sport at the pub.

Our strategic challenge was to drive awareness and nameplate recognition for the Korean car company's most Australian product launch ever – the Kia ute.

But without a car or a name before its official release in 2025, we needed to drive consideration in Australia’s most competitive and patriotic car category. To become part of Aussie culture, as well as Aussie folklore.

Utes are the number 1 car sold in Australia. A competitive category dominated by Toyota and Ford. But with an 18-month buying cycle, the Korean car company needed to get onto Australia’s consideration lists ahead of launching its most Australian product yet - the Kia ute.

So with no official name, we recruited 20 sporting legends from different eras and codes. Coming together to compete for naming rights in the ultimate game of one-upmanship. Breaking category conventions to tell a tale of sporting heroes, unbridled rivalry and Australian pub culture all coming together to name Kia’s first ever ute.

Our strategic challenge was to drive awareness and nameplate recognition for Kia’s most Australian influenced product in the brand’s 30-year history in this country – the Kia ute.

Featuring an exhaustive local ride and handling program, bespoke accessory development and even featuring Australian steel, the new Kia ute truly warranted an iconic Aussie name.

Unlike any other category, the ute market in this country over indexes in rural and regional communities with 53% of total sales coming from these less populated areas. We also needed to cater for a male skewed market with a staggering 87% of the buying market being male.

So, to achieve this lofty goal, through the lens of a regionally skewed male audience, we brought together a trilogy of quintessentially Australian themes, merging our admiration of sporting icons, nicknames and the classic outback pub.

The main film bounces through a series of comedic and heartfelt moments tailored to resonate with Australians’ shared sporting knowledge, with Australia’s most iconic sporting legends competing for naming rights in the ultimate game of one-upmanship. Set against the backdrop of the nation’s beloved outback pub culture and iconic sporting heritage.

The sporting heroes’ most iconic moments on the field, pitch, arena, stadium and on the waves, are immortalised, but in a classic Aussie outback pub. From recreating the Aloisi spot kick with a pea, to Steve Waugh’s standoff against the West Indies, but with The Volk.

The actual name of the ute was also playfully hidden in the main films. Placing ‘Tasman’ easter eggs across our film including Ned’s news article, where a dart hits the map, on a portrait of Abel Tasman and even the name of our outback pub revealed in the final exterior shot.

Australians really connected with the spot, generating huge organic view counts and an abundance of earned media, news articles and in-broadcast segments on some of the most popular news and entertainment shows in the country.

The ad generated earned reach of over 97.5 million from 262 pieces of editorial coverage (including syndications across online, print and broadcast).

Across Kia’s owned channels, it received over 1.7 million organic views, sending over 70,000 people to the Kia website and gathering over 5,000 registrants to the Kia database.

85 million media impressions.

1.7 million organic views.

97,588,479 earned media reach.

262 pieces of editorial coverage (including syndications across online, print and broadcast).

70,000+ unique website visits.

5000+ registrations.

#8 trending video on YouTube organically.