THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

Special Project

Special Project
From the 16th Annual Shorty Awards

Keith Lee x Hyundai

Entered in Auto

Objectives

Share an authentic review of the Hyundai Palisade from an impactful personality through the Hyundai mantra, #ItsYourJourney, which leans into Hyundai customers’ actual experiences with Hyundai vehicles. 

The ethos around Hyundai’s #ItsYourJourney campaign is that your journey is your story.  Not just where you’re from, or where you’ve been, but where you’re headed. And where you dream to go.

That’s where Keith Lee came in.

Strategy and Execution

Hyundai set out to tap into authentic owners’ stories, manually mining social platforms to discover, partner, and amplify voices that align with Hyundai’s brand and objectives. Happily, Hyundai learned that one of the most trusted voices on all of TikTok, Keith Lee, is a proud Hyundai owner. 

While Keith Lee is synonymous with restaurant reviews and, of course, "The Keith Lee Effect," Hyundai was sure Keith's authenticity and voice could parlay into a totally different sector, Automotive.  

And it did.

Why? Hyundai chose Keith because, not only is he a uniquely impactful creator, but his creative and approach aligns so closely with Hyundai’s brand and goals. His food reviews are filmed in his Hyundai, his car is already a “character” to his audience. So reviewing his new Hyundai using his established format met his audience’s expectations while also seamlessly fitting into Hyundai’s #ItsYourJourney campaign. 

Keith shared his #ItsYourJourney story. Prior to making it big on TikTok, Keith and his wife shared a Hyundai Accent.  When Keith's luck shifted and he went from delivery driver to TikTok star and was, "blessed enough to afford" his " first car off the lot, the Hyundai Palisade was a no-brainer." 

It was important to Hyundai to partner with creators to produce branded content that felt authentic to their audience, and that’s exactly what was delivered. The audience embraced the video as another piece of content from a beloved creator. The feedback was universally positive.

In addition to generating organic reach, the video was amplified along with other Hyundai advertising to ensure the audience experienced a sequential messaging journey to get them to the place where they go into a dealership to test drive their next car, the Hyundai Palisade. 

Results

Sentiment was overwhelmingly positive from Hyundai’s target audiences:  

And metrics surpassed all expectations:

Media

Video for Keith Lee x Hyundai

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Canvas Worldwide, Hyundai

Entry Credits