Winner: Zeno Group - Kia Reveals “The Truth” in Super Bowl XLVIII
In its fifth consecutive year as a Super Bowl advertiser, Kia Motors introduced viewers to its first-ever luxury sedan in a spot titled “The Truth.” The ad, which featured Laurence Fishburne reprising his role as Morpheus from 1999 hit “The Matrix,” kicked off the marketing campaign for the 2015 K900—Kia’s all-new flagship luxury sedan and the brand’s first foray into selling luxury automobiles. Fishburne was broadcast to more than 110 million viewers in his signature trench coat and reflective sunglasses during the third quarter of the game. The message intended audiences to question everything they thought they knew about the brand in by showing a new side of luxury they had never experienced before. “The world of luxury has been pulled over your eyes, to blind you from the truth.” Fishburne posited.
Leading up to the much-anticipated commercial airing, Zeno Group planned and executed a multi-tiered PR program that would generate buzz and garner early attention from consumers, entertainment media and the industry. In an effort to expand their campaign efforts from previous Super Bowl years, Zeno Group and Kia developed a broadcast package with behind-the-scenes footage of the spot creation. Starting the campaign off with a single well-placed print article in USA Today on January 6, the story populated to other media outlets. From there, the campaign went on to gather 1,050 articles and 1,713,935,690 consumer impressions, making it the largest single PR program in Kia Motors America’s history.
As a testament to the campaign’s impact, the commercial inspired consumer and automotive-focused sites to post Kia’s first-ever Super Bowl spot, sparking Super Bowl commercial polls and round-ups. As well as signaling the brand’s entrance into the Luxury market, The Zeno Group delivered a game-changing campaign that put Kia on the forefront of consumer vehicles.
Honorable Mentions:
- Lightspeed PR
- MWW – Making MWW Matter More