The midsized Sonata had long been a flagship vehicle for Hyundai, but by the time the fully reimagined Sonata was ready to hit the market, customers were moving away from the once ubiquitous sedan in favor of SUVs and crossovers.
Drivers associated sedans with quality and reliability but didn’t see them as innovative or compelling. With a completely redesigned, sleeker Sonata loaded with tons of advanced technology features like Remote Smart Parking Assist, we set out to show the world how exciting a high tech sedan could be.
We focused our initial launch around the Sonata’s most show-stopping new feature, Remote Smart Parking Assist, which allowed drivers to autonomously park or retrieve their Sonata from a parking space with the push of a button, without even being in the car. The only downside was that Remote Smart Parking Assist was a mouthful.
The answer came in the form of a colloquial shorthand for the feature to “Smart Park.” Once delivered in a distinctly Boston accent the feature became “Smaht Pahk,” allowing us to speak to the Sonata’s signature technology in a way that was as entertaining as it was memorable. And we set out to launch the all-new Sonata on the world’s largest stage: The Super Bowl.
To keep it authentic we shot the entire campaign in Boston with a Boston crew and a cast, director and crew comprised entirely of Boston area natives.
Once the launch spot was in place, we went the full Boston, launching the first automotive Tiktok campaign with Rachel Dratch. We invited well-known Boston comedians Robert Kelly and Tony Viveiros to host our game day twitter “Quartertime show,” and allowed visitors to toggle the Hyundai website to “The Boston Way” and search for a “Sonahta” of their own.
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