Often I have to sit down and consciously think about an idea to discuss and wonder if I really have something of interest to say. This time I can hardly hold myself back!

We were awarded the “Creative Event of the Year” award by the Event Awards for our work on the Hyundai ix35 product launch.

This is a result that I’m hugely impressed with, and I think speaks volumes of the calibre of our work here and the quality of the staff I have working with me. Sorry about the ‘big-ups’ to both myself and team here reader but it’s hard for me to contain my excitement about what we’ve already achieved and where we’re heading for future success.

From inception to delivery working on this campaign really cemented my belief in the concept of hiring staff with a fantastic approach to life – both professionally and personally. All members of the team who helped to bring this campaign to life really toiled over every minute detail in order to deliver an event that ‘surprised and delighted’ – an objective set by Hyundai to reinforce to the market that their new car was something to be (nicely!) surprised by – offering fuel economy, build quality, styling and standard features you wouldn’t usually expect for that cost and type of vehicle.

Will, Vicki, Claire & Suzy

By design then, our experiential marketing campaign reflected and reinforced Hyundai’s new positioning through ‘surprising and delighting’ journalists at the at the event. Flipping all preconceived ideas about what a car launch should be like on its head, we did away with long formal presentations, and replaced them with self guided presentations and ample opportunity for one to ones with Hyundai staff. We remodeled a Travelodge into a boutique hotel and my favourite detail had chavs at traffic lights paying for the privilege to clean journalists windscreens.

As a natural process of thought then I wondered how we’ve got to the position where it’s considered standard or some kind of ‘rule’ whereby we accept trade-offs, most notable the typical quality for cost (often exorbitant and in my humble opinion, unwarranted) or between practicality and beauty? Function and form are both important and I think the approach that Hyundai is taking is fantastic.

Being nimble and not sacrificing tangible results for pure pizzaz has always been the basis on which we’ve operated – a harder position but one that reaps rewards…results now speaking for themselves!

Horn tooting over. (But not for Hyundai).