• by Linda Thomas Brooks , September 14, 2009

Chocolate is good, especially if the chocolate is wrapped around a caramel. Even by themselves, caramels are delightful. And ice cream can be phenomenal. Not for a steady diet, mind you. As I repeatedly tell my kids, treats are additive to a good, healthy eating plan, not a replacement for the vegetables.

That is why I like the recent Escape from Hamsterdam game from Kia. This campaign has all the hallmarks of a real treat: a Facebook app, a game requiring a webcam, and an augmented reality experience. For the young, educated target audience, the elements are right on path and the technology required for interaction shouldn't be a burden.

What makes this campaign remarkable, however, is that Initiative Media, (disclosure: a sister IPG agency to my company, Ingenuity Media) has demonstrated that its strategists know how to avoid the common mistake of trying to turn media treats into the basis for a campaign. What makes the Kia effort especially great is that these tactics are used as special indulgences, rounding out a very strategic and thoughtful media approach. The best recent demonstration is the Hyundai campaign, in which Kia has spent the last year or so recalibrating its target audience and going on a healthy media diet, packed with the nutrients needed to launch a vehicle, establish marketplace credibility and create a buzz for some industry-leading offers like the Assurance program.

What were the hard-working nutrients in the plans? Media properties branded as leaders, such as the Beijing Olympics and the Super Bowl. Add some big event primetime. Kia developed branded content and integration elements that created great top of mind awareness using highly targeted media vehicles, driving down its usage of "filler" opportunities that historically had worked primarily to round out the CPMs for the company's plans. If you look at its detailed plans, Kia customized and squeezed out enhancements on virtually every property, adding a methodical search engine marketing element to their presence.

In a relatively short time frame, the strategy that called "Big Voices in Big Places" increased awareness, purchase consideration, brand favorability and brand buzz. So does the company deserve some dessert now? Absolutely.

The campaign for the launch of the Soul gets to live under the corporate halo generated by the messages and branding that was scrupulously placed over the past year. It's a message designed for the younger target of this nameplate, but it benefits from the disciplined plans of its brethren over the past year.

Even if you are not are among the folks who find rockin-out Hamsters driving cars inherently interesting, a campaign that has been so well nourished over the past year should allow for some junk food-infused attention while maintaining the growth. Give those Hamsters some chocolate.