Escaping the brand hamster wheel.

💡 The challenge

Kia faced significant challenges in shifting its market perception. The brand was commonly seen as a low-end, budget-friendly car manufacturer, which limited its appeal to trend-conscious younger consumers who prioritize style and innovation. Engaging this demographic required Kia to offer a digital experience that was as dynamic and well-crafted as their vehicles. Additionally, Kia needed to ensure that its brand message remained cohesive across various local markets while still allowing for local adaptations.

💡 Answering the challenge

🐹 Stakeholder Engagement
We began by engaging key stakeholders within Kia to understand their vision and gather insights into the target audience’s preferences and behaviors. This collaborative approach helped align project goals and foster a sense of ownership among stakeholders. Through workshops and interviews, we gained a deep understanding of what Kia wanted to achieve and the obstacles they faced.

Conducted collaborative creation workshops and interviews with key stakeholders.
Built a shared vision and aligned project goals and established a rallying cry.
Fostered a sense of ownership among stakeholders through active involvement.

🐹 Design and content framework
I developed a flexible design system and content framework that would allow Kia to present a unified brand identity across different markets and dealerships, while accommodating local nuances and languages. The new content framework ensured each experience was consistently surprising and yet well put together, breaking away from the traditional budget-friendly image of Kia.

The design system was engineered to be highly adaptable, allowing for seamless customization across multiple customer segments. This flexibility ensured that Kia could maintain a consistent and cohesive brand identity globally, while also catering to the unique cultural and regional preferences of each market. The highly modular design worked in tandem with the content framework and allowed for a harmonious control roll out. The system also enabled the creation of tailored experiences that resonated with the new demographic allowing for more fun to be injected into the experience. This approach not only enhanced the user experience but also maximised the brand's appeal and relevance in a wide range of markets.

🐹 Enhancing the experience
To further engage the new younger audiences, we introduced swipe gestures and radically redesigned the user journey through the platform to the product pages. This included intuitive navigation, engaging multimedia configurators, and interactive features that made the experience seamless and enjoyable.

Prototype testing
Wireframes and prototypes were designed to visualize the design concepts and user journeys.

Audience Testing
Engaged a diverse group of participants from the target demographic to test our assumptions.

Task-based scenarios
Task-based scenarios were used to test key functionalities, such as navigating.

Adaptation testing
Tested the design system in multiple languages to ensure seamless localisation and cultural.

Feedback analysis
Analysed call centre feedback to identify pain points, usability issues, and improvement areas.

💡 The impact

By asking the audience to think again and reconsider what they knew about Kia, we successfully repositioned the brand to attract a younger, vibrant audience. The strategic approach of delivering a bold, dynamic digital experience with a flexible design and content framework proved effective in enhancing brand appeal, driving increased engagement, and achieving significant sales growth. This case study exemplifies how a well-executed digital transformation can lead to a successful brand repositioning and sustained business success.

THe transformation of the digital presence delivered outstanding results. The new language and engaging digital experience successfully shifted market perception, helping to positioning Kia as an aspirational lifestyle brand. User engagement metrics saw an uptick, with a20% rise in website visits and a 30% increase in time spent on the site.