The partnership between Kia and Rafael Nadal began in 2004, before he had won his first Grand Slam. More than two decades later, the brand found a connection for its new campaign in a material that plays very different roles in their respective professions: Nadal built his career on clay courts, while automotive designers use clay to shape future vehicles.
That idea led to a life-size EV4 GT model, made using material from tennis courts where Nadal claimed victories. The campaign The King of Clay, created by INNOCEAN Berlin, thus connects his famous nickname with a process that precedes car production.
Clay is used in automotive design so that a vehicle’s proportions and details can be shaped and refined by hand. In this project, that standard development model takes on a different purpose, as a gift to the brand’s long-standing ambassador. The material from the courts provides a tangible connection to Nadal’s sporting achievements, including a record 63 singles titles on clay.
Tennis also determined how the model’s lines were marked out. The tapes designers normally use to define a car’s lines were replaced with white tennis court markings, with details of Nadal’s greatest achievements placed along them. The bodywork thus becomes a surface on which part of his career can be read.
Four videos were produced for audiences who will not see the model in person. They follow the work behind the scenes, the creation process and the moment the gift was presented to Nadal in Mallorca. The digital part of the campaign thus covers both the object’s creation and its recipient’s reaction, giving the long-standing partnership content that can unfold across multiple posts.
Soohang Chang, President and CEO of Kia Europe, linked the project to the determination and resilience that, in his words, have defined their partnership since 2004. Nadal remains Kia’s global brand ambassador, and this campaign gives the continuing partnership a recognisable visual motif, drawn from his career and the car design process itself.
