Shortlisted 2021

Automotive

Brand

Hyundai Motor Company

Entered by:

Bloomberg Media Studios

H2 economy

The Challenge

Hyundai Motor Company is among the automotive industry giants that are investing in building and popularizing hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Beyond the production and sale of these advanced vehicles, the company also is increasingly devoted to increasing awareness and application of hydrogen as an increasingly important piece of the puzzle, instrumental in creating a decarbonized society.

Hyundai partnered with Bloomberg to create H2 Economy and establish their commitment to leading the effort to realize hydrogen’s full potential as a means of combating climate change and ensuring a cleaner, more secure future.

The Creative Solution

H2 Economy explores the future of energy with a first-of-its-kind index, the H2 Economy Ranking, measuring the countries who are leading the way in progressive fuel cell technologies powered by hydrogen. The campaign arose as an offshoot of Hyundai’s work investing significantly in advanced hydrogen fuel cell technology and as they seek to establish themselves as an innovative pioneer in the clean energy space.

Through a proprietary study that measured key criteria across relevant industries, Bloomberg Media developed a single, country-specific score that represented the commitment to the hydrogen economy, providing insight and incentive for each country to improve its score.

Complementing the ranking was bespoke video content and infographics, showcasing Hyundai’s hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, case studies and partnerships that are putting the company on the cutting edge of next-generation power sources.

The Media/Content Amplification Solution

Considering 86% of Bloomberg Media’s audience actively use Bloomberg’s data and information to make decisions, the ranking is poised to create a ripple effect across leaders, policy-makers, and the wider public seeking sustainable transportation solutions. The ultimate goal is to foster long-term impact by presenting the most powerful, authoritative ranking in the relevant field.

Together, Hyundai and Bloomberg Media are delivering on that goal. The H2 Economy campaign has been one of the highest performing media campaigns for either company, leading 84% of US respondents and 94% of Korean respondents to say they were more interested in owning a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in the future (vs. 60% benchmark) after viewing the content.

In addition, 78% of those exposed now have a more positive impression of hydrogen’s potential as a viable global energy source.

The Result

Those exposed to the campaign registered a ten-point lift in their perception of Hyundai as a leader in sustainable business practices, and a nine-point lift in perceptions of Hyundai as a thought leader over and above its competitors.  The campaign also had a positive impact on interest in FCEVs, with 84% of those exposed indicating that they were now more interested in owning such a vehicle now or in the future.

Perhaps most importantly for our future, 78% of those exposed now have a more positive impression of hydrogen’s potential as a viable global energy source (vs. 60% internal benchmark), meaning that the campaign demonstrably helped to close the knowledge gap for this essential piece of the carbon-neutral future.

The campaign racked up an impressive 56M+ video views across social platforms alone, with an average view rate of 51% on Twitter (16 points above benchmark). The landing page on which users could explore the data itself also proved successful in terms of reach, garnering 815K+ page views to date.