In Australia, surfing is a competitive sport, fuelled by progression, while attracting sponsorships from competing brands vying for exposure.

The brief was to build awareness of our Hyundai's Electric credentials amongst the surfing community. The problem was they are cynical of brands trying to infiltrate their sport. Furthermore, we didn't want to be just another brand lost in a sea of brands competing for their attention.

Rather than just sponsor a surf competition, Hyundai created their own. Hyundai Electric Air was as progressive as the Kona Electric itself, capturing the imagination of surfing’s best aerialists.

A set of keys hung five metres below an electric blimp. The first surfer to perform an aerial out of the wave, grab the keys, and land back on the wave won a Kona Electric.

By creating a new format that pushed the boundaries of surfing, we instantly became part of surfing culture. Surfers didn't see us as just another logo vying for exposure, they saw an opportunity to fly high and have some fun.

The manuevers performed (and our blimp) created such a spectacle that it made its way into surfing blogs and publications, giving us more reach than we could ever hope for.

To entice surfers to our little-known event, Hyundai Electric Air ran on the same day on the same beach as another surf competition. Not surprisingly, surfers that turned up to that competition instead came over and surfed in ours, for a chance to pull off this world first surfing maneuver. In doing so, we instantly became the major and only sponsor of Australia’s most talked about surfing competition.

Results

Electric Air was one of the most innovative surfing competition's ever held in Australia.

Over 7 million Australians reached

Over $55 million generated in Kona Electric sales

Number 1 reaching programme on Fox Sports More

Kona Electric new customer leads up by 186%