• Ad Age, Monday, November 9, 2009 10:38 AM

Hyundai -- "an automaker not historically known for fearless marketing" -- walked away with Ad Age's Marketer of the Year honors, garnering 40% of the vote in an online readers' poll and leaving the likes of Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Lego and Amazon in the dust. Hyundai's buyer's assurance program early in the year was one innovative reason for kudos, but it also successfully entered the luxury market with Genesis. The net result was not only an increase in sales and market share (to 4.3% from 3.1% for the first 10 months) but also an overhaul of its brand image.

Before the recession, "these same people [that] never would have been caught dead in a Hyundai" might have worried about what their neighbors would think, Scott Fink, chairman of Hyundai's national dealer council, tells Jean Halliday. "Now people are very comfortable because the brand has been elevated. We used to be a price player, but now we're a mainstream player."

Halliday takes us through the transition blow by blow, tracing the automaker's first bold move since its entry arrival in the U.S. in 1986 to its introduction of the industry's first 100,000-mile warranty in 1998. Growth has been particularly solid the past two years, when the number of Americans who say that are aware of Hyundai and willing to buy the brand has risen from 40% to 60%. Better products and the "Think About It" campaign initiated by former agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners are mainly responsible for the jump, according to Joel Ewanick, Hyundai's vp-marketing

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