When South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai wanted to launch the 2022 Tucson, the firm’s management decided that simply booking the Superbowl slot wasn’t going to be “big enough” this time. “We have been in Superbowl many times, and we love it,” Angela Zepeda, chief marketing officer, Hyundai Motor America, on stage at Cannes Lions, said. Instead, Hyundai looked to Disney, which Zepeda calls “a creative powerhouse and a media platform capable of exploding a creative idea”, to reach a whole new audience.
The Disney for Hyundai creative was based around the idea “question everything”, reimagined across Disney properties to drive discovery of the Tucson. It launched during the premiere of The Bachelorette in June 2021, with a range of ads featuring both reality stars and talent from Marvel series like Loki and WandaVision on Disney+, including Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen.
“The challenge with this was making it make sense, and making sure that these characters would fit together as a campaign,” Rita Ferro, president, Disney Advertising, said.
Making a special appearance in Cannes, actor Olsen added: “I’ve never been part of a commercial like this before. I was in the business of representing my show and my character and Marvel… and that felt representative in my goal of getting people to watch the show. When you launch a new streaming service – WandaVision was the first Marvel show on Disney+ – something like this teaches people where they need to go.”