Hyundai has "executed a winning game plan to score mind- and market share in America by utilizing its sports marketing campaigns," as the automaker has "aggressively moved in to sponsor and associate itself" with the NFL, PGA Tour and college football, according to Robert Gray of FOXBUSINESS.com. Hyundai Motor America CMO Dean Evans indicated that the strategy shift came after the automaker "did virtually no sports marketing in the U.S. a decade or so ago." Evans noted Hyundai last year began a four-year deal as an official NFL sponsor, and the brand was "highly visible at the recent NFL combine." It also will "have a presence at the upcoming NFL Draft next month." Hyundai's sports strategy "appears to have hit paydirt." The company just "posted its sixth straight year of record stateside sales," while '15 was the "best total sales year yet in the U.S." Those figures cannot be directly correlated with sports spending, but both the company and experts "agree the strategy has given the brand a big boost." Hyundai next year is "taking over as title sponsor" for the PGA Tour event at Riviera Country Club in L.A. after sponsoring the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii for six years. Evans said that the golf event "may play a role in Hyundai's plans to spin off its well-received Genesis luxury brand" (FOXBUSINESS.com, 3/23).
