Cheil drives home Hyundai’s Accent, Sonata, Elantra & Terracan

What a way to start the year! Cheil Communications has been awarded the creative duties for four of Hyundai’s cars – midsize segment car Accent, luxury sedans Sonata and Elantra, and sports utility vehicle Terracan.

The total size of the account is in the region of Rs 25 crore. The media account of Hyundai Motor India (HMI) continues to be with Madison Media.

Confirming the news to agencyfaqs! Sanjeev Shukla, manager, marketing, HMI, says, “We, in fact, have been in talks with a few agencies for over a year on these brands. And, one of them was Cheil Communications, which came on board after several rounds of presentations. We were looking for a fresh approach on the four brands and Cheil has done an excellent job on that.”

While Sonata and Elantra move from Saatchi & Saatchi, Accent and Terracan move from Grey Worldwide. In spite of the exit of Sonata and Elantra, Saatchi & Saatchi has two of Hyundai’s biggest brands – Santro Xing and Getz. In fact, the size of both the accounts put together equals the business that Cheil has won.

But in the case of Grey, with Accent and Terracan gone, it is no longer on Hyundai’s panel. Accent was the first Hyundai business Grey had won in 2002. The brand had moved from Bates India. A year later, Grey won the creative duties for Terracan and launched the SUV in India.

Shukla explains, “We have had a great relationship with Grey. But we had to consolidate these four brands with one agency for two major reasons. The first was to do with economies of scale. From the commercial aspect, it made perfect business sense to align all four brands with one agency. The second was the need for a clear focus on the brand strategy. Because the four brands were split between two different agencies, consistency in the brand communication suffered. Therefore, it was better to bunch the accounts with one agency for the sake of an uniform approach.”

Another reason why Hyundai had to bid Grey adieu was because the management had decided to keep only two agencies on board. “So, we had to part ways with Grey,” Shukla rues. Meanwhile, Cheil is busy strategising and brainstorming because Shukla mentioned that there would be serious and hectic work on Elantra and Sonata this year.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!