Throw a sponsor on the barbie

By Julian Lee
November 4, 2004

Hyundai - a marque synonymous with cheap and poor quality cars - is turning to sponsorship to help it to pass the barbecue test.

"I want people to turn up early to the barbecue and have people say, 'Wow, you're smart buying a Hyundai," says sales and marketing director Theo van Doore.

Now, Hyundai owners arrive late. And park round the corner. He says that sponsorship of the soccer league could change that. A four-year, $10 million Hyundai A-League program will bring naming rights, billboards, shirt exposure and the trappings of elite sponsorship, but it is the junior league that interests him. "I suspect we'll sell more cars at the back of the stand at Gosford than at the stadium."

The strategy is simple: support teams locally, nationally and internationally (Hyundai is a World Cup sponsor) to rise along with the nation's largest participating sport.

At the same time Hyundai is improving car quality. Van Doore has increased his marketing budget by 40 per cent to $52 million and will spend dollar for dollar promoting the league at every level in his quest to make the brand Australia's number five motor vehicle seller next year.