Change in consumer behavior and media consumption is accelerating at break-neck speed. So, we infused Hyundai’s “Question Everything” tagline into our media strategy and questioned what’s possible. By rethinking everything, we created a holistic partnership providing scale, coverage, AND unique, highly-viral culture integrations. Full stop.

This campaign stood out in our untamable New Now with its innovation, collaboration, and a whole new level of media context. We found ways into properties that don’t even offer advertising… because that’s where viewers live.

The objective? Infuse Hyundai into culture. The results? The all-new 2022 Tucson directly tied pop-culture momentum into record-breaking sales.

In 2021, chip shortages, supply chain issues, and limited inventory led many auto manufacturers to cut spend. Hyundai, however, saw the industry belt-tightening as an opportunity to gobble up market share with the launch of its all-new 2022 Tucson.

We were tasked with creating a scaled event that was also sustainable and wholly Hyundai-owned—so an [insert-Super-Bowl-ad-here] strategy was immediately off the table. The expectations were clear:

• Grow market share in the most competitive auto segment

• Engage fans… don’t just advertise to them

Inspired by Hyundai’s “Question Everything” campaign, we questioned just how big a campaign could be… and wound up striking a deal with The Walt Disney Company to put the Tucson in every corner of Disney’s Universe. From ABC and ESPN to Disney+—the Hyundai Tucson had pop culture cache, helping us realize our third and final objective:

• Put Tucson and the “Question Everything” Campaign… EVERYWHERE

The allure of the Walt Disney Company was the breadth and scale and balance of their media universe—but how would we pick the best shows to align with?

We designed a custom algorithm factoring in social engagement, audience retention, and search activity paired with insider guidance from Disney showrunners (ex. “this episode reveals the next Captain America”). The show ranker then vetted against two key criteria developed to ensure we delivered on Hyundai’s campaign objectives:

1. Audience Balance: The Tucson appeals to everyone, so we needed to engage a broad array of audiences, and that required balancing male-dominant programming from Marvel with shows like The Bachelorette and Black-ish to target diverse audiences.

2. Audience Engagement: We emphasized shows that generate an abundance of editorial coverage and audience chatter (e.g., from podcasts, viewing guides, fan theories, and lots of social discourse) to create a surround-sound echo chamber for fans worldwide.

To engage fan culture, Hyundai had to behave like an entertainment brand.

• We partnered with Disney execs to align paid efforts with heavy-ups around show premieres.

• Authentic content was the backbone of the “Question Everything…Everywhere” approach. So, we paired our teams with showrunners who had exclusive access to storylines and character arcs that delighted fans.

• Stars sell. So, we struck deals with a broad array of talent AND the characters they play—from The Bachelorette’s Tayshia Adams and Loki’s Tom Hiddleston to Anthony Anderson from Black-ish. The goal was to put the Tucson in character WITH the characters.

• We gladly debuted content on Disney social feeds because that’s where fans are fixated and salivating for new content.

Most importantly, we left the deal parameters wide open to adapt the partnership as consumers reacted to the barrage of show launches. The Mouse is nimble…and so was Hyundai.

Surround-sounding Disney content was a bit more daunting thanks to the emergence of ad-free environments—and with mega shows (like Loki) landing on Disney+. To align the Tucson with these shows, Disney opened their ad calendars and we surgically placed Hyundai buys adjacent to show promotions down to the pod level. See a WandaVision tune-in ad…and there’s a Tucson ad right behind it featuring Elizabeth Olsen.

We followed fans to Marvel-themed programming blocks on Cable networks to showcase Tom Hiddleston’s Loki driving the Tucson. Then, we followed hardcore fans into geekdom, placing our content in the areas where plots were dissected and discussed on end.

And when we didn’t have to work around ad-free platforms, we worked directly with showrunners to incorporate the Tucson into storylines like the Black-ish twins learning to drive in a Tucson or Strongman Brian Shaw deadlifting the Tucson in a show of strength on Sportscenter.

The campaign exceeded all earned media benchmarks and became a cultural phenomenon, resulting in more than 110 articles recognizing the innovative partnership. Plus, Lucid Research showed general sentiment was overwhelmingly positive (no small feat in the cynical social world). It delivered:

• 3 billion monthly social video views

• 585 million social engagements (with Loki's video generating 18 times higher engagement than category benchmarks)

• And ultimately reached 87% of Americans

This campaign drove record attention, engagement, and demand. Unique leads were up a shocking 317%. A lift in search volume showed more people were actively shopping for a Hyundai Tucson. And with retail sales up 33% from May through June YoY, Hyundai nabbed 7.5% of the retail share—up 1.3% while the overall sub-compact SUV segment was down 6% YoY.

Ultimately, this campaign tied pop-culture momentum directly to retail sales, helping Hyundai achieve its best year in retail sales EVER!