Situation

Each February, brands roll out their “Black History Month” posts, but Hyundai is a brand dedicated to empowering people’s journeys.

Brief

How can we use this opportunity to deliver beyond performative allyship and make an impact for Black History Month?

Objectives

Build awareness for Hyundai’s active role in supporting the Black community, and build connections in those communities where Hyundai is doing business.

Describe why the work is relevant for this specific category

These documentary-style video pieces tell the stories of real people in the community of Savannah, Georgia, for a YouTube series and social campaign celebrating Black History.

Take the marketing budget meant to show support for Black History Month and use it to make a real impact in the Black communities where Hyundai calls home.

Data gathering:

Hyundai is opening a new electric vehicle plant in Savannah, Georgia, and we learned the Black community makes up 54% of the city’s population. However, 30% of Black-owned businesses face incremental financial burdens and lack funding needed to continue to thrive.

Consumers can easily see through performative allyship and it can reflect negatively on a brand. 86% of people say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support.

Target audience (consumer demographic / individuals/ organisations)

Hyundai fans and owners nationwide, residents and businesses in Savannah, Georgia.

Relevance to social platform

Facebook and Instagram are two of the strongest platforms for Hyundai, and are the ideal place to connect and share the stories of The Progress Project by Hyundai through short-form video content.

Approach

We published each story across five platforms, and invested in paid media to help extend the reach.

We reached out to Hyundai employees and associates who live and work in Savannah, Georgia, and asked them to nominate Black-owned businesses in their community who they felt could use a little extra support. Once we heard from the community, we gathered the nominations and awarded three businesses a grant of $15,000 each to put towards making improvements upon their businesses.

We filmed three docu-style videos highlighting each Black-owned business and their unique journeys. In each video, we showcased the progress the business had made with the funds through before, during, and after footage of the renovations.

Starting in February, we posted the video content across Hyundai-owned social channels including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We also created unique TikTok and Reels videos for each candidate introducing them and revealing their transformations in a quick and entertaining style befitting of those platforms.

Our goal, based on our typical engagement, was 200,000 views. We achieved 10x that benchmark, amassing over 2 million video views, reaching more than 1.9 million unique people, and generating 24,000 engagements. Our initial goals of both awareness and engagement were shattered with these numbers. Not to mention, the caliber of comments posted by our community proved the undeniable impact this creative had upon those it reached. People were supporting the businesses in the comments, applauding their progress, and sharing positive support for Hyundai, too.

The campaign’s impact transcended social and was felt in Savannah–getting the attention of dozens of press outlets, making headlines in local news, and even sparking new business opportunities for the businesses involved. The businesses are now partnering up with each other and forging new bonds, helping to continue strengthening the community.