In our previous article, we had learnt in detail about the SWOT analysis of Kia. In this article, we are going to elaborate on the marketing strategy of Kia.
As we all know now, Marketing is a part of a company’s DNA that can either make it or break it. As users across the world go digital, marketing has followed them to the digital realm as well. If you are interested in new-age digital marketing, then you should definitely check out IIDE’s Free MasterClass on Digital Marketing 101 by our CEO and Founder, Karan Shah.
You will find a detailed explanation of its marketing strategy of Kia in this blog, starting from its small history to its unique strategies around marketing. So let’s dive into it.
Company Overview
(Kia’s Advertising Campaign 2019, Source: GaadiKey)
Founded 77 years ago by the parent company Hyundai Motor Group – Kia Motors Corp (Kia) is a vehicle producer which manufactures and markets a huge form of motors, consisting of game SUVs, MPVs, and passenger automobiles, and business motors.
The organisation additionally includes leasing motors and automobile preservation offerings. It sells those motors through a community of vendors and dealers. The organisation operates withinside the US, Canada, Europe, Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, and Australia.
| CEO | Song ho-sung |
|---|---|
| CMO | Jason McDonell |
| Area Served | Worldwide (except north Korea and Japan) |
| Industry | Motor Vehicles |
| Market Share/ Revenue | 61 billion U.S. Dollars – 2021 |
| Vision | Kia Motors’ vision is to blend cultures to become the best and most innovative automotive company in the world by ensuring customer first and mutual prosperity of people. |
| Tagline | Movement that inspires |
Marketing Strategy of Kia
Let’s take a look at Kia’s marketing plan. And how they carry out the marketing effort, among other things.
Segmentation, targeting and positioning
Kia has divided the market into small homogeneous groups. The company uses the following segmentation strategies to choose the right market segments and develop an effective marketing plan –
SEGMENTATION TECHNIQUES
- Geographic Segmentation
- Demographic Segmentation
- Behavioural Segmentation
- Psychographic Segmentation
Despite essentially adopting a competitive price approach, Kia does not provide low-cost auto models. It mostly offers mid-range goods that are not very expensive or inexpensive.
The business mostly sells product models with prices between $16,000 and $30,000 that are aimed at middle-class and wealthy consumers.
Marketing Campaigns
If only everything in life was like a Kia! is the slogan of a digital campaign by Kia India that highlights how the characteristics of Kia automobiles offer energising experiences. The seven digital videos show how Kia improved the ownership experience for its consumers and therefore made their lives simpler. This slice-of-life digital campaign is based on the premise of “cause and effect”, where the features of a Kia vehicle are explained through simple analogies, establishing a narrative that Kia makes customer lives effortlessly simple.
Kia motors have also been teamed up with the k-pop sensation BlackPink. This campaign aimed to establish a closer connection to Asia’s younger generation through a new K-pop-inspired outreach campaign. As such, Kia Malaysia will showcase a special booth at the concert ground where BLINKs can stand a chance to win exclusive BLACKPINK autographed CDs.
Kia Motors India | Magical Inspirations | Stunning Designs
The campaign “magical inspirations, stunning designs” have been taken place by keeping in mind that each and every design is unique and has its own inspiration to be made.
The campaign, which piqued interest by teasing images of an astronaut and a tiger around a Kia automobile, culminates in a major revelation when, in addition to the astronaut and the tiger, additional mystical ideas came together to originate from a Kia car. Be it the steadfast astronaut symbolising man’s first step on the moon, the firefly representing nature’s most brilliant form, the slinky spring where science and playfulness collide, the swift yet stable hummingbird, the ballerina with unmatched precision, poise, and grace, the agile skill and control of a footballer, the quirk of Felix the Cat, and finally the tiger forms the most magical inspiration set leading to an amazing Kia car.
Social media marketing
Kia as a global brand has to engage a mass number of people from different geographical locations. Kia is available on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest as well.
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Kia India: 407k followers |
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Kia India: 555,473 followers |
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Kia worldwide: 52339 followers |
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Kia India: 93.5k followers |
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Kia India: 358 followers |
Kia India is most followed on Instagram and least on Pinterest. On Instagram, they are generally posting about their product launches and the theme of the profile is dark and symmetrical. They have posted 709 posts now on their Instagram.
In February 2022, Kia India was trending on their Twitter profile after they posted about “Kashmir solidarity day”. This post of theirs didn’t appeal to the Indian netizens. Henceforth a hashtag started for them as #boycottkia.
SEO Strategies
Kia has an organic keyword exceeding 729,408 which is impeccable and monthly traffic exceeding the 14,704,248 mark shows the huge popularity and familiarity of the brand such that it is constantly growing with every passing calendar month. The brand has visits from other sources also i.e hyperlinks from other websites to this domain. This figure is also mind-wobbling which shows the vast outreach and visibility it enjoys. The company is well versed to make full use of SEO strategies to the best extent.
Influencer marketing
The process of identifying, engaging, and supporting individuals who initiate conversations with a brand’s customers is known as influencer marketing. It is a growing trend used in public relations campaigns. In recent years, this strategy has become increasingly focused on social media, allowing brands to market through social media influencers. Influencer marketing will also be a big trend in 2022 and beyond.
Influencer marketing, which mixes brands and influencers working together, maybe a strong strategy that may help businesses develop. It is a marketing approach that’s been employed successfully by thousands of organisations and brands for over a decade and is still growing.
Kia Presents | Aakash vs Wild | #KiaSonet
During the launch of Kia SONET, the brand collaborated with the influencer Aakash Gupta and uploaded a video on youtube as “Aakash vs wild”. The tagline of the car is “wild by design”. The video got 12 million views. The purpose behind choosing this influencer was that Kia wanted to focus on the youth of the country and the wild design behind it was a perfect combination to it.
Ecommerce Strategies
The company began taking online bookings years ago. In fact, in 2020, the company says it sold more than 1lakh cars through its online channel. Recently it introduced an end-to-end online real-time car financing program. The smart finance campaign has truly refined the modern car buying experience. The platform has addressed the issues regarding lack of proper information, lack of transparency, and lack of convenience and thereby helped stimulate sales for the company.
Mobile apps
Kia has two official applications for Indian users named MyKia (India) and Kia Connect
“MyKia” – is a standalone app to provide integrated customer communication and a one-stop solution for Indian prospects and customers. This application is available on both androids as well as IOS. The application has made easy access to the customers and can avail of the facilities including Check car prices, Online Vehicle booking, Service appointments, Service requests, and many more.
Another application – Kia Connect is for accessing connected car “Kia Connect” features. It is a connected car solution that integrates car, smartphone and infotainment systems into a single solution to provide a secure, convenient and joyful experience of owning a Kia car.
Content Marketing Strategies
The brand uses effective content marketing strategies to engage audiences by increasing their knowledge in the auto field to make rational buying decisions and thereby in the process portray the superiority and the value brought forward by KIA cars. Multiple blogs and posts on both the company website and platforms like Twitter to educate users and show the added privilege of being their customer are showcased.
This ends the elaborative marketing strategy of Kia. Let us conclude our learning below from the marketing strategy of Kia.
What’s Unique in KIA Marketing?
As seen from the above analysis, there is no doubt in saying that Kia motors are currently the most flourishing automobile company in the world. Their strategy has brought its result and the graph of Kia motors is going up and up.
Kia motors are the largest manufacturing company and are growing enormously and globally. As seen from their marketing techniques there is no doubt in saying that they will have consistent growth in future too. Their future goals in India and also expanding in other countries have begun action.
Today, digital marketing is the heartbeat of an organisation’s marketing efforts and the one which can stay ahead of its competitors through using innovative digital marketing strategies is the one that leads the industry.
Digital marketing is crucial since it links a company with its clients when they are online and is effective across all sectors. It links businesses with ideal consumers through SEO and PPC on Google, social media marketing, and email marketing. If you would like to learn more and develop skills, check out IIDE’s 4-Month Digital Marketing Course to learn more.
Alternatively, you can enrol in one of our free online masterclasses led by IIDE’s CEO, Karan Shah, to gain insight into the field of digital marketing.
We hope this blog on the marketing strategy of Kia has given you a good insight into the company’s marketing strategies.
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