Since spatial marketing can effectively convey the characteristics of a brand through a space that reflects the brand philosophy and identity, it has recently become important in various industries. The story is the same in the automobile industry. The automobile showroom is a space that adds brand identity, providing customers with an opportunity to experience a new brand.
Hyundai Motor Group also operates several spaces containing each brand’s identity. It covers various areas ‒ car dealerships, studios for introducing new cars, not to mention exhibition halls and virtual spaces to introduce future technologies. It is worth noting that it provides a differentiated customer experience through various attractive elements such as design, culture, and trends. So, what are the characteristics of each space? Here explained the spaces of Hyundai Motor Group.
Genesis Space provides a unique customer experience. Unlike the existing car showrooms that focus on car sales, it focuses on delivering its brand philosophy. Genesis Space gained attention by winning the 2022 Red Dot Award, a global design award, in early August. Genesis Suji, the second dedicated independent pavilion to open in 2020, won Best of Best in the Brand Stores category of the Red Dot Awards. Also, Genesis Studio Anseong, the second Mall Type exhibition hall established in 2020, won the Winner in the Showrooms category. In addition, Genesis House New York, the first Genesis global brand cultural space that opened in 2021, also won the main prize in the brand store category.
It is natural that the major hubs of Genesis Space have won the Red Dot Award, and this is manifested in the characteristics and experience elements of the space. For example, Genesis Suji is the largest Genesis space in Korea, and this pavilion focuses on the value of dignity that emphasizes the inner essence rather than the splendor of the exterior. This is to help customers experience the sensibility of Genesis, which is different from the current luxury car showroom.
In addition, the Genesis Suji is designed to let visitors focus on the car. For example, real Genesis doors that combine various interior and exterior colors are displayed in the shape of wings on each floor so that customers can freely touch and move them. In addition, polyhedral mirrors were installed at various angles in the lounge on each floor so that customers could take a closer look at the elegant lines of Genesis. And delicate details such as sofas and door handles made of high‒quality leather allow you to experience the best technology and craftsmanship that Genesis provides.
Genesis Studio Anseong offers various experiences so that many can experience the characteristics of the Genesis brand. In the brand zone, the identity of the Genesis brand is shown on the large media wall, Infinity LED, with a height of 2.4m and a length of 16m. Genesis Studio Anseong also features a product zone where you can touch and examine all Genesis models, and an interior and exterior zone where you can experience various colors of Genesis in one place.
Genesis House New York serves both as a brand cultural space and a promotor of the characteristics of Genesis and Korea’s unique culture. For this reason, Genesis House New York aims to be the ‘cultural oasis in the city’ that provides relaxation and artistic inspiration to busy daily life. Genesis House New York consists of the exhibition area (1st floor) where you can experience a variety of vehicles, from the entire Genesis lineup and concept cars showing the future brand vision; and the culture area (2nd floor) that reinterprets traditional Korean conventions in a modern way. The culture area consists of a restaurant, library, performance hall, and terrace garden with the theme of “Enjoying Korean Lifestyle” so that many people can feel Korean culture.
Hyundai Motor Company is transforming from a simple automaker to a smart mobility solution provider. This change also exists in the background of Hyundai Motor’s future robotics vision. Hyundai Motor Company’s vision of future robotics to further expand the realm of human mobility experience and to realize ultimate freedom of movement through this was clearly revealed at CES 2022 held in Las Vegas earlier this year. Visitors were able to experience the embodied vision of the automaker ‒ metamobility that innovatively expands the user’s mobility experience, the ‘Mobility of Things (MoT)’ ecosystem that gives mobility to things, and intelligent robots for humans.
For example, the Reality Zone in the exhibition hall is full of elements that allow you to directly / indirectly experience Hyundai’s future robotics technology. Four concept models based on the Plug & Drive Module, a key element of the MoT ecosystem, are exhibited here. In addition, various applications based on robotics, such as MobED, a small mobility platform with a Drive and Lift Module applied, were also exhibited. In addition, Boston Dynamics’ four‒legged robot Spot, the humanoid robot Atlas, and the technological foundation for realizing the vision of future robotics and various elements supporting it are on display, and visitors were able to enjoy them.
Recently, Hyundai Motor Company has been operating a dedicated studio to allow more people to fully experience the features and charms of a new car ‒ like Casper Studio Seongsu, which contains the characteristics of Casper, an entry SUV. Casper Studio Seongsu is characterized by collaboration with Korean street select shop ‘Casina’ in order to provide an experience for the MZ generation, who are the main buyers of Casper. In line with this, under the slogan of ‘Play CASPER, Play Streets,’ which means a fun culture of play in the city, special show cars, customized accessories, limited edition goods, and various customer experience events were introduced. In addition, the automaker produced exhibition spaces and worked with famous domestic artists so that many people could experience the practical and trendy charm of Casper.
The most important feature of Casper Studio Seongsu is that you can experience Casper in a free atmosphere. In addition to the show car, Casper is available in various colors and trims to show its unique personality and practicality. Some Casper is decorated with exclusive custom accessories; it offers the potential of various utilities such as auto camping and even provides exclusive accessories for pet people.
Kia promotes ‘Opposites United (creative fusion of opposing concepts)’ not only as its design philosophy but also as its identity; the company opened a flagship store in Gangseo last year to show it directly in its showroom. The space lets you experience all about the Kia brand in one place, transforming the current Gayang branch based on its own design philosophy.
The Gangseo flagship store is also a place that reflects the latest trend: the ‘untact’ service. For example, visitors can make a reservation without a clerk by creating a digital ID called ‘Store Pass’ in the form of a QR code on the Kia website, and the kiosk provides information necessary for the store experience.
As soon as visitors enter the Gangseo flagship store, they face the 14.6m‒long signature media wall. Two 3D configurators are placed on the media wall to help customers freely experience Kia’s models in a virtual showroom. The media wall is divided into left and right depending on how customers control it, and it is possible to check the interior and exterior of the vehicle and options through the 32‒inch touch screen of the configurator.
In addition, the Gangseo flagship store operates a variety of theme‒based test drive programs and, at the same time, has the function of a service center, so you can experience, purchase, and maintain a vehicle in one place. In addition, there are many elements that allow visitors to get closer to Kia, such as the Interactive Ground ‒ a space where you can shoot images with vehicles displayed in a virtual environment ‒ and other things to enjoy and see.
Hyundai Motor Group’s unique customer experience continues not only in real life but also in virtual space ‒ like the Metaverse platform. The term metaverse is a compound word of “meta,” meaning virtual, and “universe,” meaning world. Hyundai Motor Group is focusing on the virtual space because it can get closer to MZ generation customers familiar with the metaverse. So, Hyundai has partnered with global metaverse platforms such as Roblox and ZEPETO.
Roblox provides virtual content that allows you to experience Hyundai Motor’s concept mobility one step ahead. In Hyundai Mobility Adventure, there are various virtual spaces by theme, such as Future Mobility City, Festival Plaza, Eco Forest, Racing Park, Smart Tech Campus, and HMG Driving Center.
In the virtual world of Hyundai Motor Company in Roblox, customers can directly drive Hyundai vehicles or experience future mobility, such as UAM (Urban Air Mobility), PBV (Purpose Built Vehicle), and robotics in advance. In addition, adventures, mini‒games, and social networks allow the MZ generation to freely enjoy a virtual lifestyle.
Another metaverse platform, ZEPETO, has Hyundai Motor Studio built in a virtual space and various future mobility. In the future, Hyundai Motorstudio plans to expand into a brand space where you can experience brands, new technologies, and various mobility life not only on offline bases but also in Metaverse.
To this end, Hyundai Motor Company built its studio in ‘Downtown (Future),’ a popular world in ZEPETO. Visitors can vividly experience the interior and exterior of the studio in a virtual space inspired by the real Hyundai Motorstudio Seoul. The most attractive feature of Hyundai Motorstudio in ZEPETO is that visitors can test drive future mobility. There are contents such as Hyundai Motor Studio, S‒A1 (city air traffic), S‒Link (purpose‒based mobility), and S‒Hub (future mobility transfer hub).
As mentioned above, Hyundai Motor Group’s capabilities are not limited to space marketing and customer experience. It is expanding the scope of customer experience by going beyond the traditional offline space to virtual space. All of this is for their passion and will to fully convey the unique identity of the Hyundai Motor Group to their customers. Many people are looking forward to what kind of advanced space Hyundai Motor Group will present in the future.
HMG Journal Operation Team
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