Hyundai Material Handling Europe
Expressing a company's strengths through a strong visual identity and a marketing strategy to make it a market-driven A-brand
Hyundai Material Handling Europe is widely recognised as an industry leader for its use of advanced engineering. Every day, they are committed to delivering the industry’s best forklifts and warehouse equipment. This business unit is still in its infancy and was searching for its own identity to achieve a positive and remarkable brand perception.
Here’s how we blew a breath of fresh air into their visual identity and developed a long-term strategy to implement their new branding.
Hyundai MH was struggling with a low-end perception problem. Over the years, they had acquired the image of being the cheaper alternative on the market, despite their years of experience and expertise in the use of advanced engineering. So when they asked us to help them become a desired A-brand, we couldn’t wait to shake things up.
Hyundai should be top of mind for anyone looking for new material handling equipment. Before drawing the first line, we immersed ourselves in their business in order to understand things like the sales funnel, how they approach dealerships and how we could convince their end customers to go with Hyundai. We then came up with a recognisable corporate identity and a brand strategy that could be applied to a wide range of communication channels. The goal is to position Hyundai as the all-around solution partner for every material handling challenge.
We introduced the brand theme ‘Everything starts with Hyundai.’ The baseline invites people to submit their challenges to the company and find a solution together. We believe that, if you join forces with Hyundai, you’ll quickly find the right answer. The brand stands for independence, individuality and solidarity, and wants both client and dealer to stand on their own, while Hyundai always has their back. The baseline is accompanied by a visual identity in which the triangle of the logo recurs in every campaign.
Just as Hyundai MH is a solutions partner for its clients, we are their strategic branding partner. We developed a marketing and communications plan for 2019 and outlined a three-year plan with clear business targets to be achieved. The purpose of this plan is to maximise all efforts. No matter how large- or small-scale the communication may be, it has to serve multiple stakeholders and result in business success. In addition, we strive for a long-term partnership defined by devotion and commitment, which is the golden rule if you want to make a difference and score results.
BRINGING THE BRAND TO LIFE
On top of that, we’ve developed a toolbox for existing and new dealers to ensure consistent communication. This toolbox contained a product line-up, a brochure with the brand’s new perspective, a proposal for facility branding and vehicle branding.
Before we told their story to the rest of the world, we’ve organised a product shoot. With the outcome of the production, we created advertisements to set the tone in media and reach our end customers. With a smart media mix, we combined traditional media with digital ones, supported by a media plan and a digital strategy. As you see, we’ve just begun to tell their story, and there’s a lot more to come.
To introduce the new brand identity, we produced a concept video in which both our visual identity and baseline come alive. The video was first presented to all of the employees during an internal launch event. They’re the first brand ambassadors we needed to convince, and we did so.
Once Hyundai MH got its own people on board, the concept had to be rolled out externally. Before the end of the year, we challenged ourselves to make a block calendar for dealers, coming up with 365 unique slogans and visuals, as an introduction to the new identity. The calendar was living proof that our concept is a never-ending story, which is always applicable via all kinds of channels.
