Hyundai Motor UK teams up with Leatherhead school for marketing challenge
Year 8 students tasked with producing advertising campaign inspired by Hyundai IONIQ 9
Chance to explore IONIQ 9 helps teens understand importance of sustainable mobility
Winning teams present their campaign ideas to key staff at Hyundai Motor UK’s HQ
Leatherhead, 9 February 2026 – Hyundai Motor UK has again demonstrated its commitment to developing future marketing and creative talent for the automotive industry via an innovative partnership with Surrey’s Therfield School.
The initiative challenged pupils to devise an advertising campaign inspired by the IONIQ 9, recently crowned Large Crossover of the Year in the 2026 UK Car of the Year Awards. It’s the fifth year that Hyundai Motor UK has teamed up with the school, also based in Leatherhead, to give Year 8 students hands-on experience of what a professional campaign for a high-profile car involves.
The project also serves to support Hyundai’s vision of Progress for Humanity by engaging future generations in the evolution of sustainable high-performance mobility. As part of the project, the teenagers were able to explore the three-row electric SUV, which was on site at the school, to gain a better understanding of its key features, the unique engineering behind it and the importance of sustainability in the vehicles of the future.
Having thoroughly examined the IONIQ 9, and studied examples of previous Hyundai advertising and marketing materials, the students then formed groups based on an agency structure, with individual roles including Managing Director, Creative Director, Director of Cinematography and Finance Director. These teams were tasked with designing a presentation based around a central idea incorporating a poster, a TV campaign and cost estimates, as well as delivering a pitch to both their peers and judges.
The winning teams then got the opportunity to present their ideas, including video content, to key individuals at Hyundai Motor UK’s headquarters, gaining valuable insights into the importance of sustainable mobility and how to market a pioneering product such as the IONIQ 9 across different channels. Hyundai experts picked an outright winner and awarded prizes to the most impressive participants.
Chris Eagle, Head of Business and Enterprise from Therfield School, said: “As our partnership with Hyundai continues to grow, this exercise is becoming increasingly beneficial, with students gaining essential experience in the real-world challenges of generating great marketing and advertising ideas, and how to execute them on budget. That they are able to do so while being able to access an exciting new vehicle such as the IONIQ 9 adds to the appeal, and creates real enthusiasm about the principle of sustainable mobility.”
Ashley Andrew, President of Hyundai & Genesis UK, said: “The collaboration with Therfield School is a wonderful way of engaging with our local community and showing them how Hyundai is leading the way in such a transformational era for motoring, with electrification and sustainability to the fore. But it’s also fascinating for us to see the genuinely clever ideas that the students come up with to highlight the advantages of our vehicles, suggesting that the future of auto marketing and advertising will be in good hands.”
Local initiatives such as the Therfield School partnership sit alongside Hyundai’s Great British School Trip programme, a nationwide education initiative that supports teachers and inspires young people through meaningful, real-world learning experiences. By offering engaging, curriculum-linked activities outside the traditional classroom environment, the programme helps students build practical skills, confidence and a broader understanding of how learning applies in the real world.
Since its launch in 2023, Hyundai has invested £4 million in the programme, delivering more than 3,700 trips and reaching over 205,500 children from almost 8,900 schools across the UK.
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