Hyundai Motor’s Guinness World Record-breaking video campaign honoured at 2015 Cannes Lions Awards

In April this year Hyundai Motor Company launched a global ‘New Thinking’ campaign entitled ‘A Message to Space’, which aimed to connect families and set a world record. The renowned Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2015 has just honoured the video as part of its 62^nd year of recognising excellence in brand communications.

Since the campaign began, the campaign video has gathered momentum with 65 million YouTube views which resulted in media magazine AdWeek ranking it as number one in its chart of the 10 most watched ads in April.  The Lions award follows last month’s Third Prize Award in the ‘Film: Use of Medium’ category at the 2015 New York Festivals World’s Best Advertising awards.

Commenting on the recognition for the marketing campaign, Jin (James) Kim, Vice-President and Head of Hyundai Africa and Middle East said: “The praise we have received from the Cannes Lions for our Message to Space campaign invaluable. Our vision as a manufacturer is to become a ‘lifetime partner in automobiles and beyond’ and this campaign highlights our philosophy of caring for customers through emotional interaction and becoming a brand beyond simply a means of transportation.”

The campaign tells the story of how Hyundai Motor sent a message from a 13-year-old girl to her astronaut father. In the video, 11 Genesis cars write a huge message, covering about 5.55 km², on the Delamar Dry Lake, Nevada – an image the girl’s father was able to capture from the International Space Station. In a unique extension to the concept, Hyundai Motor invited viewers to create their own virtual message to share with loved ones, an opportunity taken up by more than 85,000 people around the world.

Now in its 62^nd year, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recognises excellence in brand communications across 17 categories, covering everything from traditional print and film to technology and product design. The week-long event in Cannes, France, attracts more than 10,000 delegates from 90 countries and this year received over 37,000 entries.