The Power To Surprise.
When I worked at Mortierbrigade, we handled the KIA Belux account. At the time, KIA was an emerging challenger brand in the automotive sector, gaining ground (and market share) with its revolutionary 7-year guarantee on new Kia cars. However, the brand didn’t have deep media pockets, and its advertising budget was significantly lower than that of its competitors. This meant we had to approach things a little more creatively. We did just that, aligned with the brand’s baseline “The Power To Surprise”.
Two brand activations stood out as particularly unique and—if I may say so—clever.
KIA Assistants
To promote a sales campaign, we redirected our media budget into a guerrilla campaign centered around Parking Assistants. In Brussels and Antwerp, we scoured the streets for Kia cars that were about to receive parking tickets because their meters had expired. Our team stepped in just in time, adding extra money to the meters—often right under the noses of real parking attendants.
It was a win-win: no one got fined, and drivers were spared any frustration with parking officers. Of course, the parking company wasn’t thrilled and eventually sued us for interfering with their revenue stream. But hey, it got people talking—and that was the goal.
KIA Geo Tagging
During the Brussels Motor Show, up to 500,000 visitors flock to Brussels Expo for Belgium’s largest showroom. It’s a big deal, particularly because it’s also a sales show responsible for 20–25% of Belgian automotive leads and sales. In such a competitive environment, you have to bring your A-game.
KIA, small but brave, didn’t have the budget for flashy advertisements, so we invented KIA Geo Tagging. Partnering with the Brand Seeders, we monitored social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for content originating from the Expo. There was plenty to find—visitors were constantly sharing pictures of the event and tagging brands.
Using these posts, we analyzed the images to identify the car brands featured. Then, we replied with playful, tailored messages like, “Great that you’re checking out our friends at BMW, but don’t forget to visit Kia’s stand in Hall 5!” or “That Mercedes looks great, but so does the Kia Sportage—swing by Hall 5 to see it in person.”
With little to no budget, we made a big splash, driving traffic to the KIA stand and creating buzz online. Naturally, some competitors weren’t amused and filed lawsuits against us. But hey, that’s okay—it was all part of the fun.
