Hyundai India celebrates 20-year journey with 'Brilliant Moments' campaign

The campaign is being showcased on social media, inviting owners of the Santro, Accent and i10 to share their memories of owning a Hyundai car

The Indian car market is arguably one of the toughest to survive. South Korean carmaker Hyundai, which completed 20 years of operations in India, is understandably keen to celebrate the milestone it has just crossed in the market. It has rolled out a new campaign, ‘Brilliant Moments with Hyundai’, comprising two digital films ‘The deal with Accent’ and the ‘Army with Santro’. The two films celebrate Hyundai India’s legacy and reinforce the emotional connect it enjoys with its 5.3 million-plus customers in the country.

One of the films capture the bitter-sweet experiences and emotional turmoil of a family as it prepares to let go of its old Hyundai Accent. For the patriarch of the family, the journey with his first car is full of memories involving his son’s childhood. The son, now an adult, is determined to sell the car. His father gives in to his demands eventually. In a curious twist, similar memories are rekindled for the son himself, and he changes his mind much to the delight of his father. The message: you can’t put a price tag on memories.

Hyundai India has placed the Santro and the Accent — two of its game changing models — at the centre of its commu- nication message. It is interesting to note that the Santro was the debut vehicle from the stable of Hyundai when it entered India in 1998. Accent, on the other hand, marked the carmaker’s entry into the sedan segment. Both models have been discontinued by Hyundai but feature in the campaign because through these, the company gained a firm foothold and a strong brand recall in India . Puneet Anand, senior general manager and group head, marketing, HMIL, says, “The Santro and the Accent changed the way customers looked at the hatchback and the sedan categories. The Santro was the first tall boy in the segment, whereas, the Accent had many firsts to its name such as a 1.5 litre engine and power steering.”

The two brands helped cement Hyundai's presence in India. It is only appropriate that the carmaker has chosen the two models to evoke nostalgia among its old buyers and establish an emotional connect with the new-age buyer. The campaign has been conceptualised by Innocean Worldwide.

Anushina Rajesh, general manager, Innocean Worldwide, says “Brand Hyundai has tried to offer technologically advanced, feature-rich cars. With the campaign, the strategic stance was to reconnect with the roots, the beginning of Hyundai in India, by appealing to the emotions that tie all customers to their cars. We wanted a message that would implore consumers to share their own experiences.”

The campaign is being promoted on social media, inviting owners of the Santro, Accent and i10 to share their best memories of owning a Hyundai car. The winners stand a chance to get their real story turned into the next brand film.

As things stand, India is the fourth largest global automotive market, behind China, the United States and Japan. According to industry estimates, the Indian passenger vehicle (PV) industry produced and sold a record four million vehicles (cars, utility vehicles and vans) in the year ended March 31, 2018. Maruti Suzuki continued to be the leader in the PV space with a market share of 49.6 per cent. Hyundai Motor India was placed second with a market share of 16 per cent. 

Anand credits Hyundai’s success in India to the carmaker’s strategy of positioning the brand as modern and premium, shedding its early mass brand imagery.