Hyundai Tests Customers' Brains With 'New Thinkers Index'

Hyundai is testing the quality of its customers' thinking -- and stimulating their brain cells into action – with the launch of an international digital campaign called the "New Thinkers Index." The online campaign was developed out of Hyundai's brand positioning -- "New thinking, new possibilities," and centers around 22 four-minute videos that highlight the thought processes of actors, musicians, sports stars and other creative thinkers. At the same time, consumers are invited to take a test to see where they rank in the thinkers' index. Jonathan Oliver, senior digital strategist at Microsoft Advertising, which developed the campaign with Hyundai, said, "We're not shifting cars, we're shifting thinking -- moving the needle on people's perceptions of Hyundai as a brand. Everyone knows the brand, but Hyundai needs to increase the brand love. This isn't shouting it from the rooftops, it's aligning the positioning to desirable content in a subtle way." The idea is that the films will go viral, encouraging viewers to click through and take the "New Thinkers Index" test to find out whether they are "word smart," "number smart," "self-aware," "musical," "body smart," "visual," "people smart" or "natural." Ads linking to the index and the films will appear on Facebook, and the campaign will be seeded on Twitter, with content posted on YouTube and Vimeo, and ads on all MSN platforms -- Xbox, Windows Live Messenger and MSN mobile. Participants are then encouraged to post their results on Facebook and encourage friends to take part. You can also compare yourself to the celebrities in the campaign, and to your own friends and family. The campaign is running in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. The 22 films will be released gradually over the next six months. The campaign launches with one featuring actor Kevin Spacey guiding a group of young filmmakers and actors to write, shoot and edit a film in 24 hours. The finished result -- called Jess and Jim -- shows the adventures of a group of young flatmates one evening. In another film, Shakespearean actor Joseph Fiennes and U.K. rapper Devlin join forces to investigate the similarities of their performance styles. The result of that collaboration will be featured on Devlin's next album. Other films include Richard Noble, former land speed record holder, transforming overnight a school's chances of winning a downhill race, while another features a group of artists, designers, photographers and gardeners transforming an urban wasteland into something beautiful in just 12 hours.

Hyundai Tests Customers' Brains With 'New Thinkers Index'

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