Photo Source/Copyright: Kia Media
Connecting with the community and the local youth is often a tough challenge. One must truly understand and visualize the dynamic of the community before they can offer a lending hand. For an automaker, it’s an even grander task. How can a large-scale automaker make a connection without forcing a sales pitch or advertising in between? While 2020 significantly hampered travel and car usage due to the pandemic and financial hardship, some automakers put boots on the ground and made use of the extra time on their hands to help their local communities and give back. Some makers got involved by offering their vehicles for the transportation of goods and services.
Kia Motors is one of those automakers and has notably made connections and bonds with the community’s youth: most recently in the last few years. Always looking for new ways to give back and get involved, Kia has pushed the boundaries philanthropically speaking and continues to grow the more they help. Take the Great Unknown Scholarship in 2019 and the donation initiative to fight homelessness, for example. The South Korean maker is also known for getting involved in the entertainment business, with sponsorships spanning the 2019 European League of Legends (LoL) Championship Series and supporting rising music sensation K-Pop band BLACKPINK. As 2021 rounds the corner, Kia Motors has no plans on stopping their outreach to the youth and community.
By investing their time and efforts into the youth, Kia is taking a proactive step in building its brand for the future. Soon enough, the car market will be selling the majority of its inventory to the millennial, Generation Y, and Generation Z population. So the move to capitalize by investing in the community now makes total sense. Building on their 2019 LoL investment, Kia has also announced a multi-year naming sponsorship with DAMWON Gaming, the 2020 winner of the LoL World Championship. The South Korean esports organization will be playing under the moniker of DWG Kia moving forward, along with new team uniforms and logos, paving the way for more exposure among the younger generations.
The work doesn’t stop there. Kia is also known for its work with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), Kia Motors America, and SiriusXM, and this holiday season, while conducted virtually, was able to help underserved communities via gift-giving delivered in Kia K5 midsize sedans. The automaker also helped kick off the 2020-2021 NBA season with the Kia NBA Tip-Off 2020 on December 22.
Kia also took part in assisting frontline workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic by manufacturing and delivering more than 550,000 items of personal protection equipment (PPE) to medical centers and hospitals across the U.S.
As 2020 winds down, Kia is also looking to make one last stamp in bidding 2020 goodbye and ringing in 2021 in style by sponsoring the 2021 New Year’s Eve Countdown in New York City’s Times Square. A 2021 Kia Sorento SUV will be delivering the “2021” numerals for the celebration across 15 states and 5,500 miles from Irvine, California. What a way to end the year for the brand!
Would you like to show support for the automaker’s generosity? Visit Miami Lakes Automall and find yourself a new Kia Motors vehicle.
Terry is an avid Nascar fan who grew up attending races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, just down the road from his hometown of China Grove, NC. Terry currently resides in Wellington and has been writing for 15 years. He also enjoys watching the Road Runner Looney Tunes cartoon with his two sons in his spare time.