1: Summary of the Campaign

For the 2015 Kia Optima, we wanted to put a different spin on their partnership with five-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin. Since most automotive campaigns adhere to product points, we wanted to shine a light on a value that’s equally important, the plain desire to have it over something else.

To differentiate and stand out from the other automotive ads, we decided to put more character into the campaign by not just playing to our brand ambassador’s strengths, but to his passions, as well. With Blake’s second-to-none delivery, we took his desire to be an actor and channeled it with three epic movie performances.

In this campaign, he is the ultimate Hollywood action hero. Without regard for the genre, storyline, or continuity of the movies he’s making, he abandons the movies’ props — be it a horse, a fighter jet, or a chariot — for his real-life preferred ride of choice: the Kia Optima. Although he annoys the directors to the extent of their nerves, they eventually come around to see things his way.

We also digitized Blake Griffin and harnessed his heroic intimidation factor into an online staring contest experience titled “Blink Griffin.” From social skins to Vine videos, we completed a rich and vibrant campaign based on the different movie worlds we created.

In the end, “The Optima” campaign generated buzz for the brand and excitement for the clients, which contributed to Kia’s best sales quarter ever.

Our goal was to satisfy consumers by defying automotive clichés. So we made it our priority to display the full beauty of the Kia Optima within a well-developed and entertaining narrative.

First, we launched the campaign with the Showdown TV spot immediately followed by the digital experience, called The Blink Griffin Staring Contest, featuring our spokesperson Blake Griffin challenging potential Kia owners to a digital stare-off. This got people talking about the brand and allowed them to engage with Blake Griffin in a way that had never been done before, personalizing the brand experience. Soon after the ball got rolling, we launched the Fighter Pilot and, finally, the Speech TV spot, which features Blake Griffin as the general of a Roman army who rallies his army while sticking out of the sunroof of his Kia Optima rather than riding gallantly in a chariot.

Along with record-setting sales for Kia, people have taken a better liking to our brand ambassador. Brand engagement has seen love for him in the campaign skyrocket, as consumers loved his performance as well as they loved the car. Blake Griffin is now being seen as a legitimate actor simply because of the campaign. This reinforces Kia’s decision to make Blake Griffin a brand partner and allows Kia to hit sales and product benchmarks in the process.