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Millennial, Gen-X Opps: Kia to launch more "Robo Dog" ads (Score 60)

David&Goliath will soon roll out across TV and social, as reported by marketing VP Russell Wager. The initiative also includes a "dogmented" (well done, IMO) AR experience, which launched ahead of the Super Bowl spot. Through the program, "Robo Dog" can come into users' houses without an app; an introductory video (see video above) explains the process well. Kia is also working with several influencers such as Doug the Pug (who has 6 million followers) and Sam Page, the actor featured in Kia's Super Bowl spot. Both are promoting the AR program on social media.

Kia's "Robo Dog" Super Bowl TV spot will also continue to run since it became so popular; more than 8.3m people have already viewed the 30-second version of the 60-second video on YouTube. Kia experienced an almost 50% site traffic increase compared to its last Super Bowl effort in 2020.

The automaker is also working on cause marketing initiatives. It will donate 90% of profits from NFTs to the Petfinder Foundation, with which it has an open-ended partnership. A 10% royalty is part of the smart contract on the blockchain, so the Foundation will also benefit from each pet adoption. Finally, Kia made a significant donation to the nonprofit; this donation helped cover the adoption fees of a minimum of 10k shelter animals.

Per iSpot, the company spent approximately $140.8m on national TV commercials in 2021, up 34% from the approximately $105.3m it spent in 2020. Kia's 2021 commercials targeted a male-skewed audience via shows such as NBA Basketball, the 73rd Emmy Awards, NFL Football, America's Got Talent and Inside the NBA.

In 2021, Pathmatics shows Kia allocated roughly $30.9m toward digital ads, 8% more than the roughly $28.5m it allocated in 2020. The company earned ~2.8b digital impressions in 2021 via desktop display (39%), desktop video (31%), Facebook (12%), mobile display (9%) and Instagram (8%) ads. Top site destinations for last year's desktop display ads included caranddriver.com (27%), cars.com, yahoo.com, nadaguides.com and edmunds.com; top site destinations for last year's desktop video ads included youtube.vcom (85%), caranddriver.com, Hulu, healthline.com and jalopnik.com.

Right now, Kia seems to be primarily targeting millennials and Gen-X. The fact that its TV spend is rising so much more quickly than its digital spend reinforces this conclusion. Kantar data reports the automaker also invests in print, OOH and local broadcast; overall spend in these channels has gradually increased over the past several years. Sellers should contact soon to secure some of these increasing dollars.

Agency & martech readers - We have not heard of any roster shifts since Kia promoted top marketer Russel Wager in 2021, so get in touch if you haven't yet done so. Kia currently works with creative AOR Zeno Group.