Developing Honda's Brand Purpose

Simon Sinek, in his TED Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” put it best: “People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

Generally speaking, every car manufacturer makes a reliable car with similar features. As a result, it’s getting harder for customers to understand and identify the differences between makers and models. As the market becomes increasingly undifferentiated, brands need to stand out for something more. And if we want to attract younger audiences who believe that brands should put social good before profits, it starts by talking about our brand beliefs and shared values, and not necessarily our products.

“Project Drive-In”

Drive-in movie theaters have been an important part of American history and car culture for generations. And even today, in more rural areas of the country, they’re a gathering place for families. But with studios forcing theater owners to upgrade to digital by 2014, they were being threatened with extinction. So Honda launched Project Drive-In, a massive multi-channel PR campaign that was carried out by the brand, and the individual theaters. Project Drive-In made national headlines and all told, saved 26 drive-ins. It also helped reinforce Honda’s status as an American car company with a heart.

Awards: Cannes Gold Lion - Integrated Campaign, Use of Social Media // Cannes Shortlist - Cyber Lions // One Show Interactive - Bronze Pencil // One Show Branded Entertainment - Merit // Communication Arts - Advertising Annual - Integrated Campaign // CLIO - Shortlist // National ADDY - Gold x2, Silver x4 // ThinkLA Interactive Awards - Campaign of the Year, Best Social Campaign // Webby - Honoree x2 // FWA Public Shortlist // Contagious Issue 37 - Meaningful Marketing // "Best Branded Entertainment of 2013" -Variety

A website allowed people could find out more about the cause, to vote for the drive-in they wanted to save and to contribute more to the cause via Indiegogo.

This was the overview film that was screened at drive-ins across the country and was the first thing people saw on the website’s landing page.

The website was also marketing hub for the drive-ins, who were trying to secure the most votes….

…and some theaters like Graham Drive-In gave it 1001%.

To raise even more money and raise awareness for the cause, we created pop-up drive-ins all over the country. We even got Honda dealers involved, who turned their packed lots into drive-in theaters for an evening. And we partnered with Sony Entertainment to show Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

A month into the program, Sony and Honda provided us with some memorabilia to help raise even more money for the cause. So we created the first-ever Twitter auction, and had film critic Leonard Maltin come host it. As a film fan, this was definitely a pinch yourself moment.

After months of voting, it came time to announce the winners of Project Drive-In. But we wanted to capture their surprise and relief in a genuine way, so we pretended we were interviewing them for an area news station…and then we spilled the beans.

The campaign got a lot of attention. Honda’s CMO talked about it on Fox News. Diane Sawyer and Lester Holt talked about it, as did a lot of other news outlets and celebs.

“Monsters Calling Home”

Indie band Monsters Calling Home couldn’t afford studio time, so they recorded a music video in one of their Hondas. We found it, loved it, and wanted to thank them in a big way as part of Honda’s ongoing “loves you back” campaign. We asked the band to play for some Honda executives, but unbeknownst to them, we had something bigger planned. Much bigger.

Awards: Cannes Lions - Bronze Lion, Shortlist (Branded Content & Entertainment Lions) // Communication Arts - Advertising Annual (Non-Traditional) // IAB MIXX Awards, Silver // National ADDY - Silver x2 // ThinkLA Interactive Awards - Best Interactive Campaign of the Year, Best Video Campaign // Digiday Video Awards Finalist - Best Social Video Advertising // WOMMA - Driving Engagement Award - Best Social Media Campaign // Adweek - #1 Ad of the Week (9/14 - 9/21/12)

The following is the film that we created that went viral.

After the video was released we promoted the band like we were their record label. We launched an online and mobile campaign, targeting music-related websites and apps. Each ad placement encouraged viewers to tell their friends about Monsters Calling Home and to download their music.

And guess what…it worked. For a few weeks time, they had more downloads than The Biebs!

“Honda Virtual Adventures”

Covid-19 forced many families to scrap their summer trip plans and stay close to home. So we gave them the chance to tour some of the most popular tourist destinations in America, virtually. We created Honda Virtual Adventures, live guided tours of places like Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. We worked hand-in-hand with Google to create the first-ever brand partnership experience using Google Earth and brought in state park guides from each attraction. During a time when brands needed to put people over profits and values over products, this was a great way for Honda to showcase their commitment to customers.

The first stop was Niagara Falls. On July 1 at 12pm, people joined the live, real-time tour. The guide took viewers to each point of interest, showing the power and majesty of the Falls, sharing the history, its ecological importance, and stories about the daring stunts people have attempted over the years. People even raised their hands and asked questions. Now, the experience lives on YouTube where people can go on the tour at their leisure.

Honda “Road Readers”

Families are spending more time in the car than ever, which means that’s less time kids could be learning or using their imaginations. So we created Road Readers, an app that provides free children’s audiobooks to all Honda drivers. It was a great opportunity to show parents that Honda cares about what’s important to them, and was something no other auto maker was doing. Honda loved it. Honda drivers loved it. Authors loved it too. In fact the author of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” Jeff Kinney liked it so much he launched his newest book on Road Readers.

Awards: One Show, Merit, Branded Entertainment/Mobile // District ADDYs, Silver, Mobile App // LA ADDYs, Silver, Mobile App // LA ADDYs, Bronze, Interface & Navigation // LA ADDYs, Bronze, Online/Interactive Branded Content & Entertainment

We also partnered with the National Teacher of the Year Program to get the word out and to help develop critical thinking questions, so kids don’t just listen, they learn.

“Honda Loves You Back”

Long before it became en vogue to listen to, dialogue with and return the adoration of consumers in social media, we were working with Honda to return their customer’s love in some pretty spectacular ways. Our reciprocated affection was just another way for us to connect with customers on a deeper, more personal level. People seemed to love it, including one reporter at Forbes who wrote, “Honda is one of the most prolific automotive brands in social media.”

Honda Loves You Back - “Fans of You Too”

When Honda hit one million fans on Facebook, we devised a thank you campaign unlike any other, where we found clever ways to reflect their fans' love. A fan named Chris carved a Honda logo into his lawn to show his love for the brand — so Honda carved the word Chris into the lawn outside of its headquarters. And the list goes on. We reflected the love of over a dozen fans and posted the pictures on Facebook to prove it.

Awards: ADDY - Bronze // One Show Interactive - Merit x3 // Webby - Nomination // ThinkLA Interactive Awards - Best use of social media // Featured in Hyper Island Master Class

Honda Loves You Back - “Million Mile Joe”

When one Honda owner got close to rolling the odometer of his 1990 Honda Accord over to one million miles, we saw it as an opportunity to celebrate. Through social media, we got people to follow Joe Lucerro’s journey and cheer for him along the way. As he reached the millionth mile, we got his whole hometown together to throw him a surprise parade in his honor. The story was covered by almost every major news network, and became the #4 news story of the year in the state of Maine.

Awards: CLIO - Bronze // Creativity Top 5 // One Show Entertainment - Merit x 2 // One Show Interactive- Merit x 2 // Think LA Interactive Award - Best use of video

And below is the case study for the entire Million Mile Joe program.

Honda Loves You Back - “You’re Our Valentine”

On Valentines Day, we made sure that Honda fans felt the love from everyone at Honda. All day on February 14th, Honda responded to fan comments on Facebook, @Honda Tweets and Instagrams with real-time, personalized virtual Valentines. Each Valentine came from an individual Honda employee and went to an individual Honda fan. As a result fans felt loved and even more connected to the brand.

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