A Window To The Soul

While waiting for video of the Kia Soul to show up in the ol’ inbox, I decided to give the one press release I do have a read. And to be honest, I’m kind of regretting the decision. I fully understand that one should never be surprised by what might happen when asking a company to describe its own product. Still… well, let me show you what I’m talking about. The first thing you learn is that the Soul is a “brand defining” addition to the Kia lineup. Fair enough. Kia’s brand needs definition only slightly more than my rapidly aging, 26 year old blogger physique does. But instead of heading for the branding gym with its most promising product to date, Kia (like myself) is whipping its image into shape by texting and playing Wii. For example, did you know that Kia’s formula for its hip whip name reads “Soul = Style + ValU + SafeT”? No? Well the brand definition continues apace with the puzzling non-sequitor “L8st head-trnr will impre$ w/ personality & gr8 options ☺.” I kid you not. At this point I’m expecting Soul owners to receive a steady stream of text messages from their “attractive and customizable vehicle” suggesting they skip fourth-period history in favor of Cartoon Network and bong rips.

OMG WTF, right? I mean where do people who respond to (let alone understand) text-latin get the $14k-$18k Kia says they’ll need to buy a new Soul (pre-customization)? Then again, Kia is aiming this thing at “young and young-at-heart buyers.” Kia has clearly been keeping an eye on the Scion situation, which has proven fairly conclusively that the when marketers exploit a generation gap, the old farts (who have money) buy the products making a hollow mockery of the millions spent on appearing “edgy.” So rather than making an all-out play for the “street tuners” and hard-core keepers of the real, Kia’s Soul campaign walks a remarkably age-neutral line (ridiculous Gen-Text drivel aside).

And in a way, branding isn’t nearly as necessary to the Soul as you might think. After all, if it is everything Kia says it is, the Soul is a downright value proposition. 120 hp, 30+ mpg on the highway, tons of interior space and a 10 year warranty starting at $14k sounds pretty darn good in this economy. Maybe instead of paying some Madison Ave genius to lovingly craft a text message from the Soul, Kia could have just included a Rondo or Rio5 in each of the Soul’s press shots. Talk about brand definition. Kia seems poised to jump from the same old jellybean mediocritymobiles to a fielding a distinctive contender in the heart of a hot segment. In a single generation. OMG. WTF.

(Full disclosure: Kia sent us a press release. I read it and only nearly vomited. The official site is better.)