This is what good branding is all about- forming a relationship with the consumer.  So many brands make the mistake of building a one-sided brand that does nothing but take from the consumer.  They learn quickly that consumers have little patience for such endeavors.

Hyundai is advertising what they call the “Hyundai Assurance.”  And they predicate it on another move by the company from a decade ago:

This is from the Hyundai web site:

A decade ago, Hyundai pioneered America’s best warranty to show you that we had faith in our cars.  Today in addition to our warranty, we’re introducing Hyundai Assurance, to show you that we have faith in you.  Right now finance or lease any new Hyundai, and if in the next year you lose your income, we’ll let you return it.  That’s the Hyundai Assurance.

The spot wraps up by stating that “we’re all in this together, and we’ll come through it together.”  This, obviously, is a reference to the recession.

Now, I’m sure there’s a lot of fine print to this offer.  But on its face, it’s a excellent move on the part of Hyundai.  And I love the tie-in from “we have faith in our cars” to “we have faith in you.”  Beautiful.

This is, of course, an effort to sell cars.  But it’s an effort grounded in a give and take relationship between the brand and the consumer.

The voice-over by Jeff Bridges is a nice touch as well.