In 2024, Kia took its commitment to sustainability further with the launch of its brand-new, luxury electric vehicle, the Kia EV9. Ahead of the launch, Kia wanted to raise awareness of the vehicle amongst environmentally-conscious luxury consumers. The goal was not only to promote the launch of the car, but also to bring to life Kia’s broader sustainability mission in an authentic and earned way. We know that this audience values transparency into environmental practices, so our storytelling needed to showcase real solutions that reshaped the materials of the EV9 and other Kia commitments that meaningfully advance our progress toward a more sustainable future, and be hosted by a true environmental advocate who was recognizable around the globe and entertaining, to help generate buzz around the content.

Luxury indulges the senses. But what if it could also respect nature? Reduce waste? Advance innovation? Inspired by Kia’s reimagined luxury electric vehicle, we reimagined the luxury narrative, taking beloved Game of Thrones antihero and environmental activist Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on an anti-hero’s journey: an odyssey to discover the forward-thinkers leading us to a more sustainable future. Along the way, Nikolaj explored innovative sustainability solutions made possible by Kia and the reimagined materials that distinguish the EV9 from other electric vehicles.

To demonstrate authenticity and relevance, Kia needed to tap into environments frequented by its global, environmentally-conscious audience, leveraging the power of contextual alignment to make a memorable impact. We integrated the vehicle into a branded video series focused on sustainable solutions and aired it in the commercial time of the Bloomberg Original series An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet—a sustainability program which, like the branded video series, featured integration of the EV9 and was hosted by environmental advocate Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. We promoted the content across platforms, leveraging sustainability media as the backdrop for the branded series promotion as well as Kia’s media, and tapped into the broader Bloomberg ecosystem across digital, social OTT and TV to ensure the content reached audiences in moments they’d be most receptive to Kia’s message.

We integrated the EV9 into the Bloomberg Originals show An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet, hosted by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and cast him in a branded video series for Kia that aired in the show’s commercial time and was distributed across digital, social via LinkedIn and YouTube, Linear TV and streaming on OTT/CTV. From the front seat of the EV9, Nikolaj explored sustainability advancements made possible by Kia and the hidden heroes whose visionary thinking helped shape the electric vehicle—from brilliant young inventors, to ground-breaking scientists, to the humble mushroom. Our three-episode series drew on earned credibility from our purpose-driven editorial program, UNDP Ambassador and activist host and Kia’s own innovative partnerships to cast the car as a case study of movement that inspires.

The campaign garnered over 57M impressions for Kia via their sponsorship of An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet and direct promotion of custom commercial assets. Designing Tomorrow reached over 18M views across all platforms. The engagement rate on LinkedIn was nearly double Bloomberg benchmarks for the platform. Digital ad units achieved higher VCRs than typical - beating Bloomberg benchmarks by between 50-68% for each of the 3x custom commercial creative assets. The VCR on OTT devices was 92-94% for each asset.

An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet featuring integrated Kia products achieved over 11M views on OTT and Youtube.