Kia
Bringing a bold new global brand to life.
The Challenge
In 2021, Kia launched a new global brand: a new logo, a new name, and a new positioning as a mobility company rather than just an automaker. A rebrand of that scale can't stop at the badge. Most Kia customers begin their purchase journey online, which made the website the single most important expression of the new brand, and the old site couldn't carry it.
The rebuild had to do more than look the part. It needed to bring the premium positioning to life, help customers explore and configure vehicles with confidence, and bridge the gap between the online journey and the in-store dealership experience, all while serving a brand selling a new vehicle every 10 seconds.
The Solution
We led product and design on the new web experience, working with Kia's international stakeholders to reinvent it from the ground up. Research across UI, UX, and interaction design shaped a new information architecture and a flexible design system built to respect the premium brand guidelines while leaving room to grow.
The experience was designed around conversion: detailed customer journeys mapped from first visit through configuration, with tools like build-and-price and trim comparison that let customers personalize a vehicle before ever stepping into a dealership. Underneath, Adobe Experience Manager became Kia's single source of truth for content, giving teams one place to author and scale across the site, with personalization and analytics built in.
The Outcome
The new site launched as an intuitive, high-performing expression of the brand, one Kia's digital marketing team credited with showcasing the bold new direction to a new generation of Kia enthusiasts. Since launch, Kia has seen gains in brand equity, customer engagement, and lead generation.
The site arrived as the brand hit its stride. 2023 was a landmark year for Kia in Canada, with the brand posting the largest sales gains in the market and EV sales nearly tripling year over year. Globally, Kia passed 3 million annual vehicle sales for the first time that same year, with brand value growing more than 10% in Interbrand's rankings. The web experience now anchors how a new generation meets the brand.
