Honda’s Chris Brown jumps to Hyundai
Honda marketer Chris Brown, credited with being one of the architects of the revival in the brand’s marketing communications, is jumping ship to rival Hyundai Motors.
Brown, currently head of European car marketing, is joining Hyundai in an as yet unannounced role. The Korean manufacturer is currently undergoing a management restructure.
Brown oversaw the advertising agency review that saw Wieden & Kennedy appointed to handle marketing in 2002. Campaigns, such as Hate Something, Change Something and Cog were subsequently developed by the agency for the marque.
Brown also oversaw the creation of the recent pan-European Let It Shine campaign, which was developed by Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam.
Hyundai said that investment in brand awareness and marketing activities had helped expand its presence in the US, Europe, China and India when it reported third quarter results last month.
The company’s global market share rose to 5.5% in the third quarter, compared to 4.4% during the same period last year. It says that it also “took full advantage” of car scrappage schemes launched by governments to support the automobile industry by tapping into demand “for highly fuel-efficient and attractively positioned cars”.
The Hyundai UK marketing team is led by Andrew Cullis and the marque’s current European marketing director is RS Cho.
