Hyundai is a global leader in hydrogen with its NEXO fuel cell. But in a saturated sustainable mobility market, in which many automotive manufacturers are going electric, how do you showcase hydrogen and Hyundai’s competitive edge?

This is what Hyundai asked us to do in a way that underscored its brand ethos: Progress for Humanity. More than a tagline, it’s a belief that people are central to every innovation, and this is what our campaign needed to do: celebrate the leading-edge technology of the NEXO and inject some humanity into the relatively new field of hydrogen powered vehicles, while cutting through the noise and connecting with Hyundai’s global audience.

We needed to create something that our European and USA-based audience had never seen before, in order to make Hyundai and the NEXO synonymous with sustainability in the in the minds of a relatively young, online and sustainability-focused target group.

Whilst many car makers go electric, Hyundai is leading the way in hydrogen with its NEXO fuel cell. But in the crowded market of sustainable mobility, how do you make hydrogen stand out?

Well, we added a little soap. Because unlike combustion engines, the NEXO's tailpipe emits nothing but water and purified air. When mixed with a little eco soap, they transformed into thousands of bubbles (with a little help from our custom tailpipe attachment).

Our "Life is in the Air" campaign saw this bubble-making NEXO not only bring to life the streets, but the fields too. Because these were no ordinary bubbles. By adding tiny wildflower seeds into the bubble mixture, they were able to plant flowers where they landed. A joyous spectacle that could only be possible thanks to hydrogen power.

Our target audience, ‘sustainable socials’ are not defined by age, demographic or geography; rather, it’s a mindset they share – one of sustainability on a global level. For this relatively young audience, not all of whom are car enthusiasts, we wanted to highlight Hyundai’s efforts regarding sustainability in a way that was fun, original and captivating, yet simple and clear in its message: that Hyundai is headed in a more sustainable direction. Bubbles by their very makeup and universal, joyful appeal provided the solution. The way they captivate would cut through the noise and offer a different approach to eco-car advertising.

We focused our campaign on the channels our European and USA audience uses the most: Facebook and Instagram, tailoring content to tap into the popular trend of guerrilla gardening.

The stunt was captured in Berlin and the surrounding countryside. But to reach our audience at the right touchpoints, we decided to tell the Bubble NEXO story not with one main film, but 43 assets in various formats – from a longer YouTube edit to some lasting a few seconds – that met different segments of our audience with the right tone and message. This included making faster-paced assets for younger audiences and interactive Instagram Stories that brought users into the experience. On Facebook and Instagram we used both organic and paid, and to reach a broader audience, tapped into guerrilla gardening trends and employed cut-downs and bumper ads on YouTube to capture shorter attention spans. Additionally, we published a website article and ‘making of’ film and allowed our audience to ask the creators questions about the project.

The campaign was launched on 14th September and ran until 4th October.

Our goal was to create awareness of the NEXO fuel cell and Hyundai’s commitment to sustainability among existing and new audiences. The campaign reached 57.6 million users giving a total of 227.5 million overall impressions.

Within the target group, the campaign achieved a brand awareness uplift of 3.4% points and message association uplift of 3.1% points. Overall, the campaign inspired widespread positive sentiment and comments around the campaign and Hyundai.

The campaign was also picked up by international industry press titles, including The Drum, AdAge, Horizont, GWA, Marketing Communication News, Tech Today, Marketing Directo, MotorWorld and EIN News.