Shaping Motional:

Establishing Brand Identity & Go-To-Market Strategy for an Autonomous Future

Motional is a joint venture between automotive technology expert Aptiv and vehicle manufacturing leader Hyundai Motor Group — uniquely positioned to fundamentally change the way the world moves. Motional is developing and commercializing SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicles (AVs) for driverless ride-hail and delivery. They partner with major ride-hail companies, including Uber, Lyft, Via, and Uber Eats, to deploy AVs on their networks.

My role at Motional was to define and establish the company’s brand identity, support talent acquisition efforts, and contribute to building a diverse and inclusive company culture. Additionally, I played a key role in formalizing the go-to-market strategy, presenting marketing initiatives to leadership, and tracking progress against pre-launch key performance indicators to ensure strategic alignment and measurable success.

As an Integrated Marketing Manager at Motional, I led brand creative efforts, overseeing video production, photography, animation, and copywriting to craft compelling narratives that educated and engaged consumers.

I managed a team of marketing specialists, ensuring seamless content distribution across multiple channels while leveraging data and insights to optimize marketing strategies for maximum impact. Additionally, I was responsible for budgeting across all initiatives, securing approvals from finance and leadership, and finalizing external vendors through procurement to ensure efficient execution. I also balanced digital advertising budgets, strategically allocating spend to maximize reach and engagement while optimizing performance based on key metrics.

2022: Motional achieved the second-highest Share of Voice (SOV) in the Autonomous Vehicle (AV) industry.
2023: Maintained a top 3 industry position, despite a quieter news cycle.
Social & Digital Growth: Consistently exceeded Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), with over a 15% YoY audience growth across all digital channels, after receiving favorable impressions and engagement on all of our content.
Talent Acquisition Impact: Helped attract top-tier talent, expanding the company from ~500 to over 2,000 employees in just over a year, before hiring slowed in 2023.

Strategy:

The strategy unfolded in multiple phases, beginning with a full redesign of Motional.com in collaboration with an external vendor. This required refreshed video and photography, which I directed and managed through a large-scale, cross-country photo and video shoot. Partnering with another external vendor, I coordinated efforts across various teams within the organization to ensure alignment.

The shoot took place across four key locations:

Boston – Captured aerial drone shots of Motional’s AV operating on public roads.
Pittsburgh – Conducted a soundstage shoot to showcase Motional’s AV in a controlled environment.
Las Vegas – Filmed at Motional’s test track and on the Strip with Uber, Lyft, and Via, highlighting real-world integration.
Los Angeles – Documented Motional’s autonomous delivery partnership with Uber Eats.

At each location, we also conducted interviews with internal thought leaders, including executive leadership, to reinforce Motional’s industry expertise. The redesigned website was strategically optimized with SEO and PPC initiatives, ensuring Motional ranked competitively against industry giants such as Alphabet’s Waymo, General Motors’ Cruise, Amazon’s Zoox, and Tesla’s FSD.

This content was instrumental in establishing Motional’s brand identity. I developed the storyboard and script, reviewed all footage, selected the audio and voiceover artist, and oversaw the editing of Motional’s first Brand Anthem video, crafting a compelling narrative to introduce the brand. The full-length video was published on YouTube, with shorter versions strategically distributed across LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to maximize reach and engagement.

As Motional experienced rapid growth, leadership prioritized a talent acquisition initiative to attract top talent. To support this effort, I developed the storyboard and oversaw the editing of the company’s first careers video, showcasing Motional’s culture and opportunities. I also reviewed all interview footage and B-roll, ensuring the final video effectively captured the company’s vision and workplace environment.

I launched a content series called Minds of Motional, designed to celebrate employees, highlight company milestones, foster an engaging culture, and recognize key moments on the calendar. Working cross-functionally, I identified employees to feature each month, ensuring their stories aligned with Motional’s values and initiatives. When appropriate, I developed storyboards using footage from our cross-country shoot and coordinated promotion across Motional’s social channels.

For example, I produced videos celebrating International Women’s Day and Intern Appreciation Day, amplifying the voices of our employees and showcasing Motional’s commitment to an inclusive workplace. Additionally, I created the storyboard and managed production for a video highlighting how the company invests in employees and creates growth opportunities. These videos helped sustain meaningful cultural conversations and reinforced Motional’s employer brand, attracting top talent throughout the year.

Autonomous vehicle technology is cutting-edge and has never been brought to market before, making data-driven insights crucial in understanding public sentiment. Motional was founded in 2020 and gathered its first Consumer Mobility Report, an annual survey of 1,000 Americans, which provided an initial glimpse into public perceptions.

When I joined in 2021, I managed an external agency to continue this national survey annually. I oversaw an internal copywriter, as well as the editing and publishing of Motional’s second Consumer Mobility Report. This report introduced year-over-year (YoY) data for the first time, enabling us to track shifts in sentiment and identify key areas for advancing AV adoption.

Over the next two years, I continued to lead this initiative, overseeing the editing and publication of the 2022 and 2023 reports. Additionally, I managed an internal designer who created animations to promote the reports, with full-length versions published on YouTube, as well as shorter social media cuts to extend reach and engagement. We strategically promoted these reports to maximize visibility and impact.

Motional: 2023 Consumer Mobility Report

2021 MCMR Report

2022 MCMR Report

2023 MCMR Report

The Consumer Mobility Report revealed that the most accessible audience for AV adoption was tech enthusiasts—those fascinated by robotics and machine learning. To engage this group, I launched a content series with Motional’s copywriter called Technically Speaking, designed to break down the technology behind autonomous vehicles and showcase how we measured safety and efficacy.

I led regular brainstorming sessions with the marketing team to identify relevant topics, which were then approved by executive leadership. The internal copywriter conducted interviews with Motional’s thought leaders, and I edited each piece, ensuring clarity and alignment with our brand voice. I maintained a monthly publishing schedule through a marketing calendar I owned, and each new article was promoted with supporting visuals—photos, videos, or GIFs—tailored to enhance engagement. We placed a strong emphasis on LinkedIn, recognizing it as the platform where tech enthusiasts were most active and receptive to this type of content.

The Consumer Mobility Report consistently highlighted public concerns about safety and sustainability in autonomous vehicle technology. To address these concerns, I collaborated with our internal copywriter, video editor, and cross-functional teams specializing in these areas to develop targeted content. We produced informative videos that directly tackled key misconceptions and provided clarity on Motional’s commitment to safety and sustainability. These videos were strategically promoted across YouTube and our social media channels, driving traffic to dedicated pages on Motional.com, where visitors could explore in-depth explanations of the company’s efforts in these critical areas.

In 2023, Motional reached a significant milestone—achieving fully autonomous operations between a couple hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. To showcase this achievement, I directed and managed a second video and photo shoot, collaborating once again with the external vendor from our previous cross-country shoot. This time, we captured authentic reactions from internal thought leaders, ot Motional Influencers, and filmed their firsthand experiences in the backseat of Motional’s AVs as they navigated the Las Vegas Strip autonomously.

The Consumer Mobility Report revealed a significant need for consumer education, particularly among young millennials and Gen Z. To address this, we launched #DriverlessEd, Motional’s first consumer-focused education campaign. I also wrote a separate case study that specifically examined the campaign’s objectives, execution, and its impact on increasing consumer understanding and engagement.

Check out #DriverlessEd here.