Within
the past few months, Kia has rebranded the Soul as transformed. After years of
trying to sell a car that did not receive the extraordinary feedback the
creators so hoped, Kia decided to change the way it advertised for the Soul. Instead
of changing the look of the car and risk admitting that they messed up, Kia
changed the way they branded the item.
If
you’re trying to make an item seem glamorous, you associate it with glamorous
people and glamorous things. If you’re trying to make an item seem innovative,
you use innovative language and place it in an innovative setting. Kia
rebranded the Soul as “transformed” and wanted to sell an advertisement that
portrayed that while appealing to something most people in today’s society have
a strong need for.
In my opinion, Kia rebranded beautifully. The
Soul did not change aesthetically very much in the rebrand, but the entire
approach to the car changed. This advertisement for the Soul appeals to basic
desires in people today—the need to look good, the need to be special and the
need to be praised—while staying lighthearted and keeping the audience
attached. Every time I see this commercial, I am instantly entranced by the television that plays idly in the background while I do my
homework. Kia chose a song that is not only wildly popular right now but also ties strikingly
to the underlying tone of the attention people desire. Kia successfully conveys
the struggle of working toward transformation and the reward of applause and
attention at the end while managing to keep levity in the atmosphere by using
hamsters as people. The ending is a beautiful combination of the transformed,
dashing hamsters, the climax of Lady Gaga’s “Applause” and the transformed Kia
Soul. I believe Kia manages to "transform" the product in the eyes of the audience while sticking to the ingenuity of original design, which is exactly what they were going for.
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