Summary
- Campaign: “Duty” (20-Year Anniversary of Hyundai in India).
- Focus: Celebrating the long-term reliability and trust placed in Hyundai vehicles (featuring their longest-running model lines)
- Core Message: Hyundai is the vehicle that enables your life’s most important commitments. The car’s durability is a reflection of the owner’s own dedication and sense of “duty”
- Key Insight: For two decades, Hyundai has been the backdrop to millions of Indian lives
Duty,” part of Hyundai’s “Celebrating 20 Years of Brilliant Moments” campaign, is a powerful and emotional short film that uses storytelling to connect with the audience’s national pride and respect for the Indian Armed Forces
The ad’s plot
The story revolves around a young man, a civilian, who encounters a stranded army officer on the road. The officer needs to get to his duty post urgently. The civilian, driving a Hyundai Santro, understands the gravity of the soldier’s “duty” to the nation and the selflessness with which armed forces members serve.
Putting his own priorities on hold (a job interview), the civilian immediately offers the officer a ride in his car. The core message is encapsulated in the sentiment: “Jo desh ki duty kare, uski duty sabse pehle” (The one who performs their duty for the nation, their duty comes first).
The ad culminates in the civilian successfully getting the soldier to his location, to fulfill his responsibilities. The film uses this simple act of kindness and patriotism to evoke a strong emotional response, highlighting themes of national pride, community support for the armed forces, and the reliability of the Hyundai as an “enabler” in people’s lives.
Reception and recall
- Emotional Appeal: The ad heavily relies on emotional and patriotic appeals, which are known to enhance viewer engagement and sharing behaviors in viral marketing.
- Storytelling Focus: The video is a prime example of corporate storytelling where the product (Hundai cars) is kept in the background, serving as a subtle enabler rather than the main focus, which helps the emotional narrative resonate better with viewers.
- Viral Success: Released in 2018, around India’s Independence Day and the anniversary of the Kargil War, the ad struck a chord with the audience, garnering over 203 million views on YouTube alone and millions more on other social media platforms.
- Brand Connection: The campaign intended to reinforce the emotional connection the Hyundai brand enjoys with its customers in India over two decades of operations, showcasing how its cars have been part of “brilliant moments” in people’s lives.
