In celebration of the centennial of 'The Endurance Expedition,' Hyundai Motor planned on creating an all on-location filmed documentary of the trans-Antarctic expedition with Patrick Bergel, the great-grandson of Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Two years of preparation period for the expedition included modification of a commercial SUV, Santa Fe, for the appropriate adaptation in the arctic environment, and the conditioning training of Patrick and the teammates to prepare themselves for the arctic environment.

To commemorate the expedition of a hundred years ago, the names of Ernest Shackleton and his 27 crew members, along with the messages from their descendants were engraved on the surface of Santa Fe, the automobile that crossed the Antarctic in this expedition.

And finally, in December 2017, Patrick and Santa Fe successfully completed the traverse of the Antarctic in thirty days with total travel distance of 5,800 km, completing the unfulfilled dream from a hundred years ago.

1. Preparation

- Found the descendants of the 27 original crew members after 10 months of searching

- Modification of the Santa Fe

(fuel tank replacement, 38 inch tire, modification of portal gear)

- Engraved the messages on the vehicle to signify that the original crewmembers and

their descendants are on board

2. The execution

- Successful traverse of Antarctica,5,800km in 30 days. ('16 .12. 04 ~ '17 .1. 02)

- Pre-Launching: ‘Shackleton's Diary’ telling ‘Endurance Expedition’ with ‘Eleni Kalokoti’

- Launching Event in London, UK (April 19th 2017).

- Campaign Launch: ‘Main Film’, 'Descendants Interview', and 'Dedicated to Shackleton' film are released on Youtube. The campaign site includes more detailed information such as vehicle modification and Shackleton.

- After-Launch: ‘Patrick’s Diary’ by the great-grandson telling his expedition.

- Additional: decided to donate the vehicle to the Antarctic Base for research. Hyundai UK will be promoting ‘Special Edition’.

- 38.5 Million Youtube views in two weeks after the launch

- Gained 1.25 million visitors with more than 200% page views on website (2.6 million)

without banner advertisement for landing

- Gained 13,500 followers on Social campaign account in a week after the pre-launch

(Facebook 8,500 Follows, Instagram 5,000 Followers)

- Earned global media coverage on the campaign/expedition in about 40 countries

- “The top-watched video this week”- Visible Measures (23.4 million views)

- The first crossing of Antarctica by passenger car (5,800km in 30 days)

There are three strategic points which Hyundai Motor has planned for this campaign. First, Shackleton's leadership parallels Hyundai Motor’s core philosophy of 'Together for a Better Future,' which value customers above all else. Second strategic point of the campaign is to show Hyundai Motor’s vision that the car of the future should make possible for people to go anywhere, at any time. Third strategic point is to demonstrate Hyundai Motor’s outstanding technology.

As the sincerity is the most important factor for the three points above, we wanted to emphasize on the historical figure Shackleton, and created a documentary film with all on-location shootings in Antarctica.

During the preparation, the campaign was crafted through an in-depth research which included multiple consultations with related organizations, and interviews with the descendants of the crewmembers. We have recreated and provided the contents on multiple digital platforms to shed a new light on his story.

The future of the automobiles which Hyundai envisions makes possible for people to go anywhere, at any time. The year 2016 was the centennial year of the legendary ‘Endurance Expedition’ led by a historical polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, and with special meaning, we wanted to fulfill his dream to cross the Antarctic.

Shackleton embarked on a journey to fulfill the dream of crossing the Antarctic a hundred years ago, but failed because his ship was destroyed. Hyundai, together with the descendants of Ernest Shackleton and his 27 crew members, reached the dream destination of a hundred years ago.

By bringing back Shackleton’s great leadership and the spirit of self-sacrifice which valued safe returns of his crew members above all else, we could deliver Hyundai Motor’s corporate philosophy of “Together for a Better Future” to the people around the globe.