Hyundai Named Marketer of the Year By Ad Age

Advertising Age is THE news journal for the advertising industry.
In a readers poll they put out Hyundai beat out the likes of Walmart, McDonalds, Amazon and Apple and was named "Marketer of the Year"

Key moments where Hyundai shined in 2009.
- Super Bowl commercials with the bosses of other automakers in an uproar over the Genesis sedan winning North American Car of the Year.
- The gutsy Hyundai Assurance program that allows you to return a car if you lose your job really spoke to the cautious consumer and got other automakers scrambling to offer something similar.
- The Gas Lock programs that coincided with Cash for Clunkers.
- Taking over TV spots that GM dropped out of in the Oscars telecast.
- Putting the Genesis in the TV show '24'
- Most recently, the launch of the Hyundai Momentum campaign which invites people to go check out a site that shows all the great reviews Hyundai cars have been getting. Sure most of the articles are about the Genesis sedan and coupe, but I think Hyundai is betting most people won't be analyzing the site that carefully to notice. It is a more effective ploy than Chevy's "May the Best Car Win" I think.

Hyundai's market share is up during the first ten months of 2009 from 3.1% to 4.3% and in September, when the rest of the industry experienced a 22% sales drop, Hyundai's sales went up 27%.

At the end of 2008, they were suffering just like every automaker and a little frustrated at the effectiveness of their 2008 marketing, but in 2009, they came out swinging. The variety of marketing attacks Hyundai and its ad firm attempted definitely reflects a company that is hungry to succeed and more willing to do bold things to succeed.