ARCHIVEKia EV9 Faster Forward Brings Electric Family Travel to Life
Kia's "Faster Forward EV9" is a 45-second television and digital launch film, created by Auckland agency Work Communications and produced by Reel Factory, that introduces the all-electric EV9 flagship SUV to audiences in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom through a heart-warming father-daughter road trip narrative set against New Zealand landscapes, released in December 2023.
The campaign positions the Kia EV9 as more than a technological milestone. It frames the seven-seat, all-electric SUV as a vehicle capable of facilitating genuine human reconnection, leaning into the emotional register that family travel naturally carries. The 45-second spot follows a father and daughter as they navigate a road trip together, with the EV9's distinctive features serving as quiet enablers of shared experience rather than mere product demonstrations.
Work Communications, based in Auckland, brought the brief to life as a content and digital media campaign, distributing the single film asset simultaneously across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The geographic spread reflects Kia's intent to establish the EV9 as a credible premium electric SUV contender in right-hand-drive markets where the brand already holds meaningful presence. The campaign builds directly on the creative and commercial momentum generated by the EV6, Kia's award-winning all-electric model that preceded the EV9 in both positioning and market entry, according to Clapboard's editorial record. The EV9 represents Kia's step into full-size flagship electric SUV territory, and this launch film serves as its public introduction in three of the brand's key English-language markets.
Kia enters the large electric SUV segment at a moment of accelerating consumer transition. Global plug-in vehicle registrations reached 13.6 million units in 2023, representing approximately 35 percent growth versus 2022, according to SNE Research. Electric vehicles comprised approximately 16 to 18 percent of total global car sales that same year, up from roughly 14 percent in 2022, also per SNE Research. Within this expanding market, premium and large-format electric SUVs are emerging as a distinct and competitive battleground.
In Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, the competitive set for a seven-seat all-electric SUV includes Tesla, whose Model X occupies the established luxury end of the segment, and BYD, which held approximately 22 percent of the global plug-in market with more than three million plug-in vehicles sold in 2023, according to SNE Research. Against competitors whose brand identities lean heavily on technology specification and performance metrics, Kia's strategic choice to lead with emotional narrative rather than range figures or charging speeds is a deliberate act of differentiation.
The insight underpinning "Faster Forward EV9" is straightforward: families considering a large electric SUV are not only weighing kilowatt-hours and boot space. They are imagining the experiences the vehicle will make possible. Work Communications translates that insight into a road trip narrative that uses New Zealand's landscape as an aspirational canvas recognisable to audiences across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom alike. Greg MacDonald, General Manager Sales and Marketing at Kia New Zealand, and Gaylene Anderson, Managing Director at Work Communications, shaped a campaign brief that prioritised connection over specification, according to reporting by Campaign Brief. The EV9's lineage as successor to the award-winning EV6 gives the launch credibility before a single feature is demonstrated on screen.
Director Jonny Zeller leads the creative execution of "Faster Forward EV9," working with cinematographer Chris Watkins to capture the visual language of a New Zealand road trip in a way that feels lived-in rather than produced, according to Campaign Brief and Ads of the World. The 45-second format demands economy of storytelling, and the film earns its emotional beat by keeping the EV9's features in the service of character rather than the reverse.
Reel Factory serves as the production company, with Executive Producer Dan Watkins overseeing the production and Producer Pippa Keiller managing the shoot, as documented by Campaign Brief Asia and Ads of the World. Chris Watkins's cinematography gives the film a warmth that aligns with the campaign's emotional objectives, rendering New Zealand's landscapes as a backdrop that communicates both aspiration and accessibility. The production approach avoids the cold futurism that frequently characterises electric vehicle advertising, choosing instead a palette and tempo that anchor the EV9 in recognisable family life.
The 45-second runtime, formatted for both television broadcast and digital distribution, allows the campaign to function effectively across the three markets of Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom without requiring localisation beyond the existing New Zealand setting, which carries sufficient geographic and cultural resonance for all three English-language audiences. The single-asset approach, deploying one film across content and digital channels simultaneously, reflects a production discipline that concentrates creative impact rather than diluting it across multiple executions. The result is a launch film that communicates the EV9's scale and capability while keeping human experience at its centre, consistent with the brand's broader "Faster Forward" positioning.
ARCHIVENo verified performance data for the "Faster Forward EV9" campaign is publicly available. No entry in the Cannes Lions, Effies, The One Show, D&AD, Clios, Webby Awards, or WARC Awards databases has been identified for this campaign, as confirmed by Clapboard's editorial review. Campaign-specific effectiveness figures have not been published by Kia, Work Communications, or Reel Factory in any source reviewed, including Press Kia and Campaign Brief.
Structurally, the campaign demonstrates several characteristics associated with effective automotive launch communications. The emotional narrative strategy — centring a father-daughter relationship rather than product specification — reduces the perceptual distance between a new and unfamiliar vehicle category and the lived experience of its target audience. In markets such as Australia and the United Kingdom, where electric vehicle adoption was accelerating through 2023, this approach addresses a genuine consumer anxiety: that all-electric family transport requires behavioural compromise rather than enabling new experience.
The decision to build the EV9 launch on the creative equity of the EV6 — described in Clapboard's editorial record as award-winning — provides continuity of brand voice across Kia's electric vehicle range in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Deploying a single, high-craft film across content and digital channels simultaneously concentrates media weight rather than fragmenting it, a structurally sound approach for a flagship vehicle launch in markets where brand consideration for a premium electric SUV requires clear and consistent positioning.
The Faster Forward EV9 campaign is a 45-second television and digital film launching Kia's all-electric EV9 SUV in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in December 2023. Created by Work Communications and produced by Reel Factory, it follows a father and daughter reconnecting on a New Zealand road trip, positioning the EV9 as an enabler of meaningful family experiences.
Work Communications, an Auckland-based agency, created the Faster Forward EV9 campaign for Kia New Zealand. Reel Factory served as the production company, with Jonny Zeller directing and Chris Watkins as cinematographer, as documented by Campaign Brief and Ads of the World. The campaign ran across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in December 2023.
Jonny Zeller directed the Faster Forward EV9 film for Kia. Dan Watkins served as Executive Producer and Pippa Keiller as Producer at Reel Factory, with Chris Watkins handling cinematography, according to Campaign Brief Asia and Ads of the World. The 45-second spot was shot on location in New Zealand for release in December 2023.
Kia released the Faster Forward EV9 campaign simultaneously in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in December 2023. The single-film content and digital campaign was designed to function across all three English-language markets without localisation, using New Zealand's landscape as a setting with broad geographic and cultural resonance for each audience.
The Faster Forward EV9 campaign leads with emotional narrative rather than technical specification, a deliberate departure from the performance-focused approach used by competitors including Tesla in the large electric SUV segment. By centering a father-daughter road trip, Work Communications positions the all-electric EV9 as a facilitator of human connection rather than a feat of engineering, according to Clapboard's editorial record.
The Faster Forward EV9 campaign builds on the creative and market foundation established by the Kia EV6, described as an award-winning all-electric model that preceded the EV9 in both positioning and market entry across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The EV9 represents Kia's expansion into full-size flagship electric SUV territory, extending the brand's established electric vehicle narrative.
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