First revealed in Europe, the campaign talks about the Korean company’s heritage and how it all began from the beginning. Dante Ariola, director of the campaign, created ‘Next Awaits’ based on the story from the biography ‘Korea- Chung Ju-yung and the Rise Of Hyundai’ with computer graphics and re-wind technique.
The World Does Not Develop by Accident
The FCEV Nexo represents Hyundai’s green technology.
The clip begins with the scene - Hyundai’s FCEV Nexo stops at a crosswalk. Then the time goes backward - from Hyundai Tucson to Tiburon, Stellar, and its very first model, Pony, at Torino Motor Show back in 1974. The narration goes: ‘The world does not develop by accident. Hyundai Motor Group has proven it, and Hyundai will keep developing the industry’.
Hyundai has shown its potentials through ‘ix35 Fuel Cell’, the first commercial FCEV in 2013.
The two models in the video, Nexo and Pony, are both very special models for Hyundai. Nexo represents the level of the technologies that the company can show. Since its first FCEV Santafe in 2000, Hyundai has shown its potentials through ‘ix35 Fuel Cell’, the first commercial FCEV. The Nexo is Hyundai’s golden child, housing ADAS, futuristic interface, creative design, and the new eco-friendly hydrogen fuel cell system.
Korea’s first mass-production car, the Pony, rolled off the production lines.
Hyundai had already proven itself in roads and bridges, the next step was to fill them. In 1967, during the second wave of Korea’s national rebuilding project, Chung-Ju-yung founded Hyundai Motor company. Soon after, HMC went in search of a design assistant and chose ex-British Leyland president, Sir George Turnbull. With the expertise of Sir Turnbull and efforts of Hyundai’s employees, Hyundai grew up to be a decent motor company with its own technologies and even started to export to Equador. Mr. Chung believed he could achieve anything if he put his mind to it. Soon, his vision became reality and Korea’s first mass-production car, the Pony, rolled off the production lines, earning the nickname Kuk-min-cha, meaning “car of the nation”.
Hyundai: The origin of Shipbuilding in South Korea
Next Awaits shows that the company started making container ships back in the 60s.
The clip continues as it shows a merchant vessel being built after the Hyundai Pony goes into a container. ‘We did not stop when we succeeded in manufacturing cars. We built ships to send our hope’, the narration says, implying that the company started making container ships back in the 60s. It is widely known that Chung managed to build ships at a small seashore village in Ulsan from literally nothing. He borrowed money to build them and searched for buyers to purchase them. He even remodeled the ships for himself to use them as merchant vessels when the buyers suffered from economic turmoil and could not buy the ships.
Hyundai Construction Company constructed thirteen river bridges and a highway in South Korea.
In 1953, Korea had just survived at war. Wide spread economic and political turmoil prevailed, and investments were virtually impossible to obtain. Against all odds, Chung Ju-yunghad the ambitious vision to rebuild his country. In line with his vision was the name Hyundai-which means “modern times” in Korean. And so he went on to establish Hyundai Civil Works in 1947 and later merged it into Hyundai Construction Company, in 1950. His first major challenge was to undertake the reconstruction of the GoryeongBridge. Despite lacking formal training in bridge construction, Mr. Chung forged ahead with his “can-do” spirit. The bridge was successfully completed and Hyundai quickly became responsible for building much of South Korea’s road infrastructure.
After Korean War, the founder Chung Ju-yung contributed to rebuilding the economy of his country.
The clip shows a young man working as a construction laborer, carrying stones. He is Chung Ju-yung, in his youth back in the 1930s. The narration talks about the young generation who poured their hearts to rebuild their country. The clip ends with the narration: “This is another beginning. Hyundai Motor Group keeps going”, with an image of the FCEV Nexo, Ioniq EV, and Kona EV running together.
Progress: The Brand Heritage of Hyundai Motor Group
From working as a construction laborer carrying stones, and to loading and unloading ships as a stevedore, the founder Chung in the 1930s never stopped working.
Next Awaits talks about the future of Hyundai Motor Group. The clip shows how the ingenious idea bore the seeds of what is today the global automobile enterprise that we know as ‘The Hyundai Motor Group’, and the desire for better wasn’t suppressed. The company surely did not develop by accident but by its history.
Hyundai Motor Group is now facing a new era of mobility.
Hyundai has gone beyond the traditional marketing strategy of focusing on the newest models to tell the world about the origin and history of Hyundai Motor, and introducing them to the brand’s core value that is ‘progress for humanity’, said the Hyundai Motor Europe Headquarters. The rise of the steel industry alongside rising demand for cars, ships, and bridges is also shown in the video, explaining Hyundai’s contribution to economic development in South Korea.
The founder Chung with the Hyundai Pony
Hyundai Motor Group announced that its new brand campaign video, titled ‘Next Awaits’, had reached 1 million views just three days after it was posted on the company’s official YouTube account on March 16th. Many inspired comments went on, for the commitment of the founder and the brand heritage shown in the clip.
KimDong* said, “The eco-friendly FCEV Nexo indeed shows the brand’s heritage and its history”. Manje*** said “The founder Chung is really inspiring. He must be proud of his company by now.”
There were good comments about the company’s history. Jooho*** said, “I liked the way the video goes, from Nexo to Pony, and from cars to shipbuilding and construction”. Other comments were about the Coronavirus crisis: “I have been depressed from Coronavirus but this video pretty much lightened up the mood”.
‘Next Awaits’ represents Hyundai Motor Group itself.
Hyundai Motor Group is now facing a new era of mobility. With the FCEV Nexo and the world’s first small SUV EV Kona, Hyundai is going to lead the industry and plans to manufacture 500,000 FCEVs annually. The campaign Next Awaits shows the old history of Hyundai, and the company will proceed to improve itself. Visit Hyundai Motor Group Youtube Channel for the full episode.
