Globally renowned rapper Psy performs a street concert to cheer on the Korean national 

team participating in the 2014 World Cup Games on Yeongdong Street in southeastern Seoul recently. 

In the background is the logo of Hyundai Motor, an official partner of FIFA, the soccer governing body. 

(Photo: Hyundai-Kia Motors Group)

Korean companies, particularly Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, are turning to FIFA World Cup marketing campaigns to boost their global standing and expand their overseas presence.

The Korean automakers are the only global automakers who are official partners with the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) along with five other global companies including Adidas and Sony.

The Hyundai-Kia Motors Group held a ceremony to deliver its car fleet as the official cars of the FIFA World Cup Brazil to carry the VIPs present at the sport extravaganza at the Arena Corinthians Stadium in Sao Paulo on June 3. 

Among those present at the ceremony were FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, Hyundai Brazil President Lee Young-woo, and Han Ki-ho, head of Kia Motors’ overseas promotion team. During the ceremony, the Hyundai-Kia Motors Group donated a fleet of 1,700 cars, including Hyundai Motor’s Equus, Genesis, and their Brazil version car HB20, as well as Kia Motors’ K7, K5, and Sportage.

The cars are used as the official cars carrying FIFA President Joseph Blatter and other VIPs as well as officials and athletes during the World Cup tournament which kicked off on June 13.

The Hyundai-Kia Motors Group expects its support as the official cars of the 2014 World Cup Brazil to contribute to enhancing the global standing of Hyundai Motor’s and Kia Motors’ cars for their excellent quality and performance. 

Slogans in support of each country’s team, selected during an online event that took place last December, will be put on the buses carrying athletes to promote Hyundai Motor’s car brands around the world. Kia Motors will host events in which a group of 42 children selected from 22 countries around the globe will perform with Fuleco, the official mascot of the 2014 World Cup Brazil, during intervals of soccer games. 

Hyundai Motor’s World Cup marketing campaigns are designed to expand its presence in the giant Brazilian market. Figures showed that the 3.57 million cars were sold in Brazil last year, becoming the fourth biggest market in the world following China, the United States, and Japan. Hyundai Motor sold some 188,000 cars in Brazil in 2013, more than double the 80,000 vehicles sold in 2012, but the Korean automaker’s market share is only 5.95 percent, compared to Fiat’s 21.34 percent, Volkswagen’s 18.64 percent, GM’s 18.17 percent, Ford’s 9.387 percent, and Renault’s 6.61 percent.  

The Korean automotive group projects its official partnership with FIFA to yield marketing values worth more than 80 trillion won in the global market, including Central and South America, during the 2014 World Cup Brazil.

Innocean, the advertising and public relations unit of the Hyundai Motor-Kia Motors Group, said the group’s official sponsorship during the 2012 World Cup South Africa brought about an estimated 20 trillion won in economic effects from marketing activities such as TV advertising and street cheering events around the world, including 8.6 trillion won from its exposures on the advertising boards of soccer stadiums.