Kia Uses Supermodel To Sell NFL Fans Soccer For 1 Month

Kia Motors America deploys Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima to front a campaign that aims to convert US NFL fans into football/futbol fans for the FIFA World Cup.

The initiative is led by three new (somewhat sexist) TV spots: two promoting the Kia Sorento – ‘Man Cave’

and ‘Sports Bar’,

and one the Kia Optima ‘Football vs Futbol’.

These three 30-second ads, created by David & Goliath, are initially just posted to the brand’s site at www.Kia.com/FIFA and won’t make their broadcast debut until the tournament begins on 12 June.

A set of three new TV spots, running under the tagline ‘For One Month, Let’s All be Fútbol Fans’ promote the brand’s Optima Midsize Sedan and Sorento CUV in the commercials which will run across US World Cup broadcasters ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes and ABC.

The Kia campaign supports the dual language (English and Spanish) TV work with print executions and additional footage and continent online at www.Kia.com, plus activity across social, point-of-sale and radio.

Specific campaign extensions include elements on Facebook, Twitter (with the hashtag #BecomeAFan), Instagram, Vine, Google+ and Pinterest.

Kia Motors, part of the Hyundai/Kia conglomerate, is FIFA’s official automotive partner and is also the presenting sponsor of pre-match shows on both ABC and ESPN.

With soccer interest in the US spiking and MLS live attendances now overtaking the NHL (the USA’s fourth ranked major sports league), Kia is leveraging its official rights to take advantage of the sport taking centre stage.

Particularly with the juggernaut NFL in its off-season and the NBA and NHL seasons climaxing as the World Cup begins.

‘Soccer’s popularity in the U.S. is growing rapidly and as Official Automotive Partner of the World Cup we have a unique platform to showcase two of Kia’s most popular vehicles to the sport’s passionate and diverse fan base across the country,’ explains Kia America’s VP Of Sales and Marketing Michael Sprague.

Comment

Using Lima’s star power and Brazilian host nation heritage to front the US spots makes sense for a brand as the supermodel also fronted Hyundai’s 2012 ‘Drive the Dream’ Super Bowl commercial.

‘The reaction to Adriana Lima’s appearance in ‘Drive the Dream’ was overwhelming, and with the World Cup being staged in her home country of Brazil and her love for the game it was a natural fit to partner again and add a bit of glamour and humour to our ‘fútbol’ campaign,’ Sprague adds.

Yet, some may feel using a super model in a little black dress and a come-hither smirk to turn sports loving men into slack-jawed idiots is a clichéd, old-school ‘sex sells’ tired approach to activating around a sports property.

It certainly doesn’t have the football fan focus on sister brand Hyundai’s global World Cup initiative (see case study) or local campaigns such as its UK work (see case study).

Links

Kia USA Website

http://www.kia.com/FIFA

Kia USA YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbp3o7U6oSa6s-LQBZvOnGg

Kia USA Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kiasorento

Kia USA Twitter

https://twitter.com/Kia

Kia USA Instagram

http://instagram.com/kiamotorsusa/

Kia USA Google +