NFL automotive partner Hyundai’s ‘A Better Super Bowl’ in-game ad was filmed live during the match and connected serving soldiers overseas with their loved ones back in the USA using satellite technology, two-way 360° cameras and immersive pods.
The activation, developed in harness with agency of record Innocean, was centered on a 90-second spot that linked members of the US armed forces at the military base in Zagan Poland with their family at the game in Houston’s NRG Stadium
In addition to its official NFL sponsorship, the car company partnered with the Department Of Defense and Super Bowl broadcaster Fox Sports.
Three service members (Corporal Trista Strauch, Specialist Erik Guerrero and Sergeant Richard Morrill) from the Polish base were chosen for the surprise and the sponsor flew their families to Houston the week before the Super Bowl.
While in Poland, Hyundai built three immersive tents (created with Igloo) into which the selected service members were invited to watch the Big Game in a thrilling 360 ° screen environment from a virtual seat in the stadium.
Once seated in the tent, the soldiers were then surprised to see their loved ones sat next to them in a real seat in the Houston stadium.
10 days or so ahead of the Big Game, the core commercial itself was teased socially by Pro Football Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Mike Singletary discussing the value of teamwork and courage, especially as it relates to US troops.
These were supported by additional pre-game tease assets on Hyundai’s social platforms.
You give your all when you head out on that field. But we're not talking about football. Stay tuned after #SuperBowl to see what we mean. pic.twitter.com/s2DYDiSnAu
— Hyundai USA (@Hyundai) January 31, 2017
Some legends never step on the football field. Stay tuned immediately after #SuperBowl to meet them. pic.twitter.com/G7V2ccAYHJ
— Hyundai USA (@Hyundai) February 3, 2017
Heroes don’t always wear the uniform you’d expect. Stay tuned immediately after #SuperBowl to see some of the better moments off the field. pic.twitter.com/x4H6iwSAn7
— Hyundai USA (@Hyundai) February 1, 2017
For game day, the Innocean/Hyundai team split in two to execution the concept (with half in Poland and half in Houston) and the final spot itself was directed Peter Berg of football show ‘Friday Night Lights’ fame.
The teams were simultaneously shooting in both locations during the first quarter of the game and then spent most of the second quarter editing that footage in a trailer outside the stadium in Houston.
By halftime the final ad cut was ready and had to be shown to officials from Fox Sports, the NFL and Department of Defense to get the green light to air.
The final work was delivered to broadcaster Fox during the third quarter.
The spot then aired straight after the Patriots stunning comeback victory in the first Super Bowl to need overtime: indeed, the late game-tying touchdown and additional minutes came in handy and gave the brand/agency/broadcaster team of strategists, planners, creatives, producers and tech experts a few vital extra moments to finish the ad)
The ad was also amplified across its digital (https://www.hyundaiusa.com/) and social platforms
ICYMI: These troops couldn’t be home for #SuperBowl, so we brought home to them. Learn more: https://t.co/NOars2TRW1 pic.twitter.com/ZDvXGvIJF4
— Hyundai USA (@Hyundai) February 6, 2017
and supported by additional related assets that helped drive viewers online to see the whole story at http://hyundai.us/pFCHIg
‘We have been embracing the military for years,’ explained Hyundai North America chief marketing officer Dean Evans.
‘There are a few organizations we support, and we’ve been dedicated to incentive programs and special discounts for active members and with local dealers located around military bases.’
‘In today’s competitive marketplace, we have to remind consumers that we have world-class vehicles and dealers, but the modern brand building of today and having a North Star of why are you doing this at the end of the day – how are you doing an act of the brand – doing really good things that get a U. audience to get up and say, ‘God, I like that brand. They’re really trying to make the world a better place’—how do we really stand out in that way?’ adds Evans.
‘It’s a longstanding relationship,’ adds Eric Springer, chief creative officer at Innocean.
‘It’s organic to the soul of the company, so this wasn’t a stunt whatsoever. [Hyundai] threw a huge party at a base in Poland. These troops are over there so the rest of us can sit around and eat as many buffalo wings as we like on a gluttonous day in America,’ adds Springer.
‘Everything you have to do in three months for a normal ad we did in about 48 minutes,’ he continues.
The initiative, which was months in the planning and just moments in the execution, is the first stage in a new, ongoing Hyundai campaign called ‘Better Drives Us’.
Activative Comment:
Simultaneously tapping in to several contemporary activation trends – including real-time, multiple partnerships, cause and a ‘tech-first’ – this campaign is certainly an impressive piece of teamwork.
Both the technical feat and the engagement levels are impressive: the ad has notched up 20 million views YouTube and a further 10 million on Facebook in its first four days (plus the pre-game teaser videos are racked up a further 3 million YouTube views between them).
The strategy is simple: what better way for a foreign owned car company to integrate and embed into American society that by partnering with the Super Bowl and the nation’s soldiers?
While the big idea is simple (surprise US troops stationed abroad on Super Bowl Sunday with virtual visits from their family members), the technology and skills needed to pull it up are complex.
It is also a neat, simple reversal of the more usual solider sponsor stunt that sees the serving member of the military surprising the family on a secret trip home.
Interestingly, the auto sponsor’s Big game ad did not include any product related shots (unlike every other car commercial running in the Big Game).
The approach is for Hyundai to act as a ‘better’ car company rather than focus on its cars themselves.
Unlike so many of the other 2017 Super Bowl spots, Hyundai CEO Evans maintains that the ad wasn’t a response to any ‘cultural conversation or charged political environment’.
‘Even before the political climate this was already in the mill. We just naturally wanted to lean in on a few things – how do we make things better for someone else? Here’s the military, here’s an underserved part of the population that deserves more than ever before a nod to our appreciation of them. That was all coming together before the election results. And now we’re even more secure in that patriotism and bringing people together around our military and what they do for us every day—whether you’re blue or red this cuts right up the centre of bringing people together.’
Hyundai wasn’t the only Super Bowl advertiser to take a ‘live’ approach to its Big Game ad: Snickers also aired a genuinely live spot shot in real-time.
Links:
Hyundai
https://www.facebook.com/Hyundai
https://www.youtube.com/user/HyundaiUSA
https://www.instagram.com/hyundaiusa/
Innocean Worldwide Americas
