From Pier to Pier

A crowded segment

The midsize three-row SUV segment is one of the most crowded in the U.S. market: Kia Telluride, Toyota Highlander and Grand Highlander, Honda Pilot, Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Traverse. Strip the badges and most make the same promise: three rows, a full safety suite, similar fuel economy, similar seating. In 2025, the Palisade finished fifth in the segment, just ahead of the Telluride.

A narrow difference

The 2026 Palisade added a hybrid for the first time. That mattered, but it wasn't unique: Toyota already sold three-row hybrids. Efficiency alone couldn't separate the Palisade from the pack.

A tired format

Most SUV advertising follows the same script: a glossy shot on a scenic road, then a voiceover listing features. Families have seen it from every brand, and they expect it. A spec that rivals can match, delivered in a format everyone uses, gives viewers no reason to remember who made it.

Business: Build awareness and consideration for the Palisade among families shopping the segment.

Communication: Make the Palisade the three-row SUV families picture on their next trip, and tie Hyundai to Route 66's centennial.

Success measures

Reach: weekly audience and tune-in across all 20 features.

Brand linkage: viewers naming Hyundai as the series sponsor.

Engagement: completion and shares on social cutdowns.

Consideration: visits to Palisade product pages during the campaign.

Core idea: Own the road trip, not the spec sheet

I built the campaign around who the Palisade lets a family be, not what it lists. A 2,400-mile Route 66 drive, told over 20 weeks, put the Palisade at the center of the trip families picture when they buy. The features still came through, in use, at the moments a family would notice them.

Format as the differentiator

Rivals could match the Palisade's specs. They couldn't match the format. When products converge, the edge goes to the brand buyers remember when they start shopping. A 30-second spot makes one impression. A weekly series builds a habit: the same structure, the same host, and a new destination each week, with Hyundai on screen every time.

Feeling first, proof second

The trip carried the emotion. The hybrid carried the proof. It was the one claim a road trip could actually test, and 2,400 miles gave families a concrete reason to choose the Palisade once the story had earned their attention.

Hyundai’s brand presence

I planned Hyundai’s presence in three layers:

Present: the Palisade appears throughout every journey: on the road, at each stop, inside the cabin. It is constant, and it is never just a backdrop.

Proven: its benefits show up in use, at the moments a family would notice them.

Named: Hyundai commercial placements, sponsor billboards, and tune-in promotion credit the brand directly.

Direct sponsorship was one layer of three. The first two did most of the selling, because viewers don’t skip a story.

Message hierarchy

I set the message hierarchy around the trip:

Brand idea: the family that still goes places.

Lead proof: hybrid efficiency, proven over 2,400 miles.

Supporting proof: passenger and cargo space, long-distance comfort, in-car technology.

Borrowed equity: Route 66’s centennial, its historians, and Disney and Pixar’s Cars carry more cultural weight than any car ad. The campaign placed the Palisade next to each of them, so Hyundai could borrow that weight.

Michael Wallis is a leading Route 66 historian, a consultant on Disney and Pixar’s Cars, and the voice of its Sheriff. I built the segment around that: his interview ran as voiceover while the picture cut between Cars and the Palisade on the road.

Hyundai borrowed three things at once: Wallis’s authority on Route 66, the family warmth of Cars, and the most famous car story Disney owns. No 30-second spot could have borrowed that much.