Kia Motors has made its first foray into online video with a £2m integrated marketing campaign for its new Sportage model, £700,000 of which (35%) is dedicated to digital.
The two-month campaign will centre on three characters from Kia's TV ads, run as part of its sponsorship of ITV's FA Cup coverage, which will be extended online.
The characters, called Keith, Ian and Andy, will perform various driving stunts and challenges. Digital agency e3 is running the online work, which will include video ads on sites like Top Gear and Yahoo, and an MSN home-page takeover later this month.
The ads lead to a campaign site, kia.co.uk/sportage, where visitors can see all the videos, which can also be seen on YouTube and Facebook. Lawrence Hamilton, general manager of marketing for Kia UK, said the campaign marks the company's largest digital investment to date, adding, "It's around 15% more of our marketing budget than we'd normally spend."
He said using characters and stories as the backbone for video ads is the most effective way to increase engagement and boost sales. "Videos can come in very flat presentation-type formats, which people are used to, so they're more likely to go unnoticed," he said. "But if there's a story and characters people can interact with, that's more compelling."
Hamilton said Kia UK is aiming to ramp up its social media strategy. For the Sportage push, the characters will have their own Facebook page.
"When it comes to social media you have to give people something to engage with, not just throw flat product offers at them," he said. "The trick is to find the right mechanic so people engage with the characters, rather than the company itself."
The ads lead to a campaign site, kia.co.uk/sportage, where visitors can see all the videos, which can also be seen on YouTube and Facebook. Lawrence Hamilton, general manager of marketing for Kia UK, said the campaign marks the company's largest digital investment to date, adding, "It's around 15% more of our marketing budget than we'd normally spend."
He said using characters and stories as the backbone for video ads is the most effective way to increase engagement and boost sales. "Videos can come in very flat presentation-type formats, which people are used to, so they're more likely to go unnoticed," he said. "But if there's a story and characters people can interact with, that's more compelling."
Hamilton said Kia UK is aiming to ramp up its social media strategy. For the Sportage push, the characters will have their own Facebook page.
"When it comes to social media you have to give people something to engage with, not just throw flat product offers at them," he said. "The trick is to find the right mechanic so people engage with the characters, rather than the company itself."
The ads lead to a campaign site, kia.co.uk/sportage, where visitors can see all the videos, which can also be seen on YouTube and Facebook. Lawrence Hamilton, general manager of marketing for Kia UK, said the campaign marks the company's largest digital investment to date, adding, "It's around 15% more of our marketing budget than we'd normally spend."
He said using characters and stories as the backbone for video ads is the most effective way to increase engagement and boost sales. "Videos can come in very flat presentation-type formats, which people are used to, so they're more likely to go unnoticed," he said. "But if there's a story and characters people can interact with, that's more compelling."
Hamilton said Kia UK is aiming to ramp up its social media strategy. For the Sportage push, the characters will have their own Facebook page.
"When it comes to social media you have to give people something to engage with, not just throw flat product offers at them," he said. "The trick is to find the right mechanic so people engage with the characters, rather than the company itself."
Source: http://www.nma.co.uk/news/kia-assigns-a-third-of-campaign-spend-to-online-video/3020057.article
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