Grand LIA
Creativity In PR

Through their IONIQ Forest project, Hyundai has planted one million trees across 13 countries on three continents, part of a decade-long, $20 billion commitment to environmental initiatives.

Hyundai’s purpose, Progress for Humanity, extends beyond mobility. It is a call to nurture meaningful connections between people, technology and the planet.

But why trees?

In Korean culture, Hyundai’s place of origin, trees are not just part of the landscape. They are revered as living beings, vessels of wisdom, memory and resilience.

They outlast generations, witness the rise and fall of civilizations, and quietly adapt to a changing world. It’s this deep-rooted belief that drives Hyundai’s environmental commitment, where honoring trees means listening to them, protecting them, and making their wisdom part of our shared future.

Unfortunately, deforestation continues to plague the planet. Rather than highlighting our environmental efforts, we saw a need to spark action. So we set out to create a tool for change.

Tree Correspondents was not about showcasing achievement, but creating a new creative language. One that connected long-term sustainability with the values of EV intenders, increasingly demanding substance.

Hyundai’s commitment goes beyond planting trees. It’s about creating emotional connections with a new generation, seeking alignment with purpose more than products.

This idea was built on the belief that the creative use of data could act as a voice for the planet. Billions of environmental signals, collected from soil, air, light, and weather, were transformed through a bespoke AI system into articles, written from the perspective of trees.

It proved that when data fuels creativity, the result is bigger than awareness; it’s action. This is data-enhanced storytelling at its best, a demonstration of what Progress for Humanity can achieve.

20% of all CO2 emissions come from deforestation. But only 5% of all global warming press coverage mentions deforestation.

Hyundai is committed to forest conservation, with more than 1 million trees planted worldwide as a part of its $20 billion, decade-long environmental investment plan.

To make a meaningful impact that would transform perceptions of the brand, we realized there was a need to help increase press coverage on deforestation.

Journalism is built on credibility. Reporters don’t speculate, they cite trusted sources. That’s why in moments of crisis, correspondents report from the front lines.

But deforestation has no such witnesses. No embedded reporters. No credible voices from nature’s side of the story. Enter Tree Correspondents. A first-of-its-kind tool transforming trees into data-enhanced storytellers. Powered by environmental sensors, weather APIs, and a chain of Large Language Models, the system converts real-time climate data into credible sources for journalists, empowering them to report from the front lines of the forest, with accuracy.

The surprise wasn’t that the trees could report on themselves. It’s that what they said was urgent, personal, and unforgettable. Through these stories, we realized the power of this tool, and its ability to spark change in environmental journalism.

To validate the platform’s credibility, we generated 28 articles. The result is a fusion of scientific rigor and expressive craft, where data doesn’t just inform the work, it writes it.

The platform is now open to 8,000+ journalists and 500+ global outlets, turning trees into credible sources for the planet.

This idea didn’t cross boundaries; it dissolved them, merging data science, journalism, AI, and environmental advocacy into one unified concept.

Tree Correspondents redefines how brands can contribute to global sustainability efforts. Rather than celebrating arbitrary sustainability milestones, we built a tool to ensure Hyundai’s tree-planting efforts weren’t overshadowed by the larger issue, deforestation.

A reporting tool made available to 8000+ Journalists. A credible source for climate change data released to 500+ Media outlets.

28 data-fueled articles providing credibility for using AI-enabled trees as climate correspondents.

In addition to the articles written by the IONIQ Forest, we created video content that captured the hearts of viewers online, generating further engagement with the brand. Over 86M views on YouTube.

248M reel views on Instagram through a mix of paid and organic activity.

Over 370K visits to treecorrespondents.com.

And not only did we create a never-before-seen tool for advocacy at scale, we helped EV considerers see Hyundai in a new light.

An 11.1 point lift in the belief that “Hyundai is a brand I would feel proud to drive.”

A 19.3 point lift in the belief that “Hyundai is living up to their slogan, ‘Progress for Humanity."

A 13.4 point lift in purchase intent for Hyundai IONIQ EVs (a total of 66% of likely IONIQ considerers). Now that’s progress through purpose.