0 marketing society honda paper[1]

8/8/2019 0 Marketing Society Honda Paper[1]

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A Submission for The Market


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EVER WONDERED WHAT THE MOST COMMONLY USED WORD IN THE WORLD IS?

OK. OK?

MANS FAVOURITE WORD IS ONE THAT MEANS ALRIGHT, SATISFACTORY

NOT BAD

SO WHY INVENT THE LIGHTBULB, WHEN CANDLES ARE OK?

WHY MAKE LIFTS, IF STAIRS ARE OK?

EARTHS OK. WHY GO TO THE MOON?

CLEARLY, NOT EVERYBODY BELIEVES OK IS OK.

WE CERTAINLY DONT

AND WE WERE WONDERING.. WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE LIKE IF ITS

FAVOURITE WORD WASNT OK?


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INTRODUCTION

This is a paper about sett ing cha l lenging yet c lear object ives in market ing st rategy. I

a paper about establ ishing a t ru ly d ist inct ive v is ion of how a brand should be perceive

Above a l l , though, i t s a paper about hav ing the conf idence to develop mould-break ing

communicat ions that were def ined and inspi red by that v is ion. The courage behind th

communicat ions was wel l rewarded with a 22% increase in sa les.

Honda have been sel l ing cars in the UK for 28 years. Over that t ime, people have oft

thought of Honda and thought of qua l i ty motorbikes. Which is f ine. Others have thou

arent Honda cars rea l ly popular wi th older people? Which is considerably less f ine.

That s nothing aga inst o lder people, but rather that a brand wi th Hondas ambi t ion nee

have wider appeal .

Something had to be done, and i t was. Thanks largely to courageously d i f ferent mark

communicat ions, people f rom boardrooms to l iv ing rooms have star ted ta lk ing more ab

Honda .


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The Business Issue

My Mums f r iend dr ives a Civ ic and raves about i t . So much so that my Mum is th

about buying one too. The other day she asked me i f C iv ic d id a Honda vers ion.

- research quote, ear ly 2002

This te l ls you something about that persons Mum (sorry that persons Mum), but a lso

points to something deeper about the bus iness issue for Honda. The qua l i ty of the ca

were no problem i t was the brands image.

For some this was largely an absenceof any meaningful image - Honda was just anoth

overseas car brand that d idnt even register in thei r th ink ing. Others saw Honda as b

'for the more mature dr iver , fuel l ing the percept ion held by most - that Honda was se

and dul l . 'Sensible and 'dul l a rent exact ly the k inds of qua l i t ies that get people spr

to the bank for a car loan.

Even Honda owners fe l t the need to just i fy thei r dec is ions. I t was very much a case

dr ive a Honda because instead of the proudly s imple I dr ive a Honda . Just i f icat io


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Object ives

So, to make the brand a bus iness asset , market ing ac t i v i ty was needed to make peop

good about owning a Honda . G iven where the i r cur rent percept ions were l angu ish ing

demanded mak ing them rad ica l ly reva lue the brand. I t ca l l ed for marketing ac t i v i ty t

pa r t of a long- term commitment .

Wi th in the longer - term ob ject i ve was the fundamenta l and immedia te - term one of se l

ca rs - be tha t ex is t ing models or l aunch ing new ones . Th is was not to be a separa te

i t needed to be cent ra l to the whole s t ra tegy.

The task was cer ta in l y cha l leng ing. As in many sectors , car customers a re decreas in

and inc reas ing ly d iscern ing. Th is i s escala t ing the cost of reta in ing owners and acqu

ones . I t gets harder car market ing has to shout through ever -growing no ise, to be

an aud ience whose wi l l i ngness to l i s ten i s ever -waning. As a resu l t, the qua l i t y of

communicat ions f rom car manufacturers has progressed a lo t i n the l as t coup le of ye

old days i t used to be rubbish. I t s not now. I t s harder to cut through than ever.


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Strategy

The Power of Dreams. What does that mean exact ly? Or even roughly? I t sounds l

cheesy sel f -help book by Doctor Marybeth P. Scr imshanker. Or worse - one of those

empty globa l corporat ion s logans. In fact , th is was a globa l corporat ion s logan - for H

and the UK market ing teams f i rst inst inct was to hope that i f they ignored i t for long

enough, i t might go away.

I t was never going to go away, and that turned out to be a good thing. A l though The

of Dreams was a globa l corporat ion s logan, i t certa in ly wasnt an empty one. In rumm

for ins ights that might br ing about a reva luat ion of Honda, a cruc ia l breakthrough was

by Wieden and Kennedy, Hondas advert is ing agency. At f i rst you couldnt see i t for

look ing. The breakthrough came with the rea l isat ion that something interna l could be

as the externa l solut ion. The Power of Dreams was t rue to the spi r i t of how the

corporat ion thought and acted. And how.

The va lues of the companys creator were st i l l cours ing through the veins of i ts cul tur

Soichi ro Honda was relent less ly pass ionate about engines, opt imist ica l ly imaginat ive,


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A ful l apprec iat ion of the potency of Hondas DNA turned to f rustrat ion that i t wasnt

understood outs ide. And so the market ing st rategy was born; to expose the inner t ru

about Honda. No globa l focus groups scavenging for consumer ins ights a long wi th th

other car manufacturers . No market ing awaydays to ret rof i t a brand v is ion to custome

needs. Instead, the conf idence to bel ieve that te l l ing people the t ruth about Hondan

would do the job. The job being to make them reva lue the brand and feel better abou

owning one. In other words, to make them wanta Honda. Actua l ly , not in other word

those are the exact words.


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Brand Voice

I t sounds s imple - just te l l people the t ruth about Honda. Only , i t wasnt . Hondas cu

is one of r ich divers i ty and nuance. I t would be doing i t a d isserv ice to boi l i t down t

couple of adject ives in the centre of a brand onion. The mul t id imensiona l i ty of Honda

what makes i t what i t is . I t would have been wrong to ignore some of those shades,

for the sake of market ing s impl ic i ty . To bui ld a brand wi th sca le and emot iona l depth

requi red embrac ing and then communicat ing the whole cul ture.

A new tool was needed to pa int a fu l l port ra i t of Honda. Tradi t iona l tools would only

for the capture of some of the parts , rather than the sum of the parts . I t needed to b

tool that would help a l l s takeholders understand and feel Hondaness, and so serve as

spr ingboard for a l l communicat ions going forward.

Research showed that even Honda owners - the most important stakeholders of a l l - h

l i t t le fami l ia r i ty wi th Honda cul ture. They loved thei r cars but i t was a case of , erm

Power of What, d id you say? The market ing team therefore hi t upon the not ion of cr

something that could be put into the glove-box of every new Honda. This was The Bo


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The Book of Dreams was constructed around Honda rea l i ty , and imaginat ively def ined

unique brand voice for i t . Cruc ia l ly , i t was much more than just a tone-of -voice to sho

the end of communicat ions br iefs . I t was the br ief i tsel f . I t il luminated the Honda

phi losophy and way of behav ing, whi lst creat ing for the brand a dist inct ive look, feel

even a vocabulary . Qui te handy rea l ly .

The process was a bi t d i f ferent f rom normal . Centra l to the books development was

teams determinat ion to merge creat ive st rategy wi th execut ion. Subt le moments tha

create great communicat ions normal ly come f rom tonnes of dec is ions made in the exe

phase. As such, the integrat ion of what we say and how we say i t , ear ly in the pro

was fundamenta l to the books va lue.

Indeed, such was i ts va lue that The Book of Dreams prov ided the st rategic and creat iv

communicat ions plat form for two years. And count ing.


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PEOPLE SA

IM A DREAME

BUT IM NO

THE ONLY ON

< John Lennon >


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Imagination is more powerful

than knowledge, because

knowledge is limited-AlbertEinstein

champions arent made

from something they ha

dream, a vision. they ha

the will must be stronge

If you dont have a dream, how you gonna make

a dream come true?

- Captain Sensible


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PROGR

THE HAUNREA

MEN. BERNA


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FAILURE IS FANTASTIC.

FAILURE IS SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE, TO BE PROUD OF.

SUCCESS ISNT HALF AS INSPIRING.

EMBRACE YOUR FAILURES, BUILD UPON THEM.

FAILURE IS MISUNDERSTOOD.

IT ISNT A WORD TO BE WHISPERED, TO COWER AWAY FROM, TO KEEP HIDDEN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

FAILURE IS NOT THE ENEMY. IT IS YOUR GREATEST ALLY.

FAILURE DOES NOT STAND BETWEEN YOU AND A GREAT SUCCESS.

IT IS THE FEAR OF FAILURE WHICH WILL REDUCE YOU TO A QUIVERING WRECK, FROZEN IN THE HEADLIGHTS, A HALF-BAKED SUCCESS.

PUSH YOURSELF, DARE TO AIM HIGH, GO ON, AIM EVEN HIGHER.

BUT, WHEN YOU DO, WHEN YOU SET YOUR MIND ON ACHIEVING SOMETHING TRULY GREAT, ACCEPT ONE INALIENABLE TRUTH. YOU WILL FAIL. YOU WILL FAIL MANY TIMES.

BUT WITHOUT THESE FAILURES AND, JUST AS IMPORTANTLY, THE VISION TO SEE THEM FOR THE MINI VICTORIES THEY ARE, THERE IS NO SUCCESS.

DONT JUDGE YOURSELF ON THE GREATNESS OF YOUR SUCCESSES, JUDGE YOURSELF ON THE POTENTIAL OF YOUR FAILURES.

WHEN WE FAIL, WE FAIL BIG, BECAUSE EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT US THAT FAILING BIG LEADS TO SUCCEEDING BIG.

FAILURE AND THE HOPE IT GIVES, THE INSPIRATION AND DRIVE IT DELIVERS, IS WHAT KEEPS A DREAM ALIVE.

IF YOURE NOT FAILING, YOURE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH.

FAILURE IS AN OPTION


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IS YOUR PETRO

BEING

YOU

YOU

EVEN T

SEE, YOUR FEELING MOR

SO, WILL A CA

WE

AS A NOD TO CONVENTIO

NOT T


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ARE YOU A DOER?


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Communications

With increas ingly busy brand t raf f ic for audiences to nav igate through, every piece of

communicat ion had to col laborate to del iver the brand voice. Apprec iat ing the import

of th is , the market ing team created The Dream Factory . Nothing to do wi th Wi l ly W

but instead a col lect ive of Honda representat ives and a l l i ts market ing agencies. They

chocolate biscui ts though. This ensemble were tasked wi th work ing together to ensu

every piece of market ing col la tera l conveyed the same spi r i t of Hondaness, as def ined

the Book of Dreams.

In some cases, communicat ions were a d i rect t ransfer f rom a page in the book.

e .g .


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became


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German engineer ing preva i ls in the execut ive car sector. With the Accord, the cha l len

was to ta lk about the engines engineer ing in a way that would make people feel the

Hondaness captured in the book - imaginat ive and innovat ive but human and opt imist i

A sort of warm engineer ing .

The divers i ty of Honda demanded producing a body of d iverse creat ive approaches, a l

kni t ted together with the newly def ined Honda brand voice. Above-the- l ine, th is mea

gett ing th is voice across whi lst making heroes of a wide range of vehic les, technolog

phi losophy. Oh and bananas, obv ious ly .


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Print A


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TV A


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OK Factory HONDA

HONDHONDA Civic (2002)


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HONDA Civic (2003)

HONDA IMA

HOND


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Through the di l igence and imaginat ion of The Dream Factory, the Honda brand voice w

imparted a l l the way through-the- l ine . This ran f rom di rect mai l p ieces to interact ive

telev is ion and f rom motorshow s ignage to press launches.


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Direct Mai l


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Civ ic Everyday Genius - Postcards and beermats


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Internet act iv i ty p layed a major part in educat ing and persuading people to reva lue the

brand. For one thing, the Cog commerc ia l was put onto the websi te and bounced thro

the cyber -ether to mi l l ions of desktops around the wor ld. Above-the- l ine communicat

were augmented wi th onl ine campaigns. The Honda IMA micros i te, for instance, got

to apprec iate the technology by hav ing a l i t t le v i r tua l p lay around wi th i t . As in a l l ca

was presented in a way that fur ther establ ished the brand voice.


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Aside f rom thei r obv ious commerc ia l importance, dea lerships have another job to do f

car brand. And i t s a huge job. Dealers serve as the most inf luent ia l publ ic face of a

l ike Honda. As such, i t was cr i t ica l that great ef for t went into maximis ing thei r ro le i

and del iver ing the brand v is ion. Quarter ly conferences were set up - not just to keep

sweet , but to involve and exc i te them with what was going on. The newly def ined b

voice sang through in everything f rom mater ia ls in forecourts to dea lership advert is ing


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Wait ing in recept ions often means reading the only b i t of the newspaper that hasnt b

nicked. Usual ly the Finance sect ion. The team ident i f ied that the Honda HQ recept io

an untapped opportuni ty to communicate Hondaness - both to v is i tors and staf f . Henc

was given a makeover into a new Wor ld of Honda . Display panels chronic led Honda

stor ies and plasma screens showed new Honda commerc ia ls .

With a much lower media budget than the big boys, innovat ive and brave media plann

was requi red. This was part icular ly important g iven the f inanc ia l intent ion to reduce t

budget each year going forward. One example of th is innovat ion and bravery was how

media for the Cog ad was planned. Not many media plans conta in an ad last ing two

minutes. I t was bold, i t was di f ferent , i t was ul t imately just i f ied, but i t wasnt enoug

The ad needed to be seen by more people than telev is ion a i r t ime could del iver wi thin

budget . The teams solut ion was to make Honda the f i rst advert iser to run thei r TV

campaign in the press. Sort of . A DVD was created conta in ing the ad, the making of

ad, the soundtrack v ideo and an interact ive explanat ion of the Accord. Nothing had e

been done l ike i t on that sca le - over a mi l l ion DVDs were dist r ibuted wi th t i t les l ike T

Guardian, GQ and Top Gear. Another ha l f a mi l l ion went to people ask ing Honda to se


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Resul ts : Soft Measures

How do new relat ionships between people happen? I t s about gett ing not iced, gett ing

and gett ing wanted. Or at least not gett ing blown-out . And this was how i t needed t

re lat ionship between Honda and i ts audience. Brand t rack ing was commiss ioned to m

elements, in order to judge how wel l the market ing campaign was bui ld ing that re lat io

By 2003, the stats showed that

Honda was on the top of a lot

more minds than i t had been

before the campaign began.

Fami l ia r i ty wi th the brand had

also improved - so people c la imed

to knowmore about Honda. The

next l ink in the cha in was v i ta l .

The whole st rategy was based on

the bel ief that making people


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But what about Honda owners? This wasnt one of those market ing br iefs wi th must

a l ienate current users on i t . The communicat ions needed to do more than that - they

to make owners proud to say I dr ive a Honda . Track ing amongst owners demonstrat

improved fami l ia r i ty wi th Honda and considerably greater des i re to have one for thei r


50/81

More speci f ic shi f ts in brand image were a lso measured. Data f rom before the re laun

wasnt ava i lable, unfortunately , so the fo l lowing chart shows changes between post -

re l aunch and the end of 2003.


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Had pre-campaign data been ava i lable, i t s reasonable to assume that these changes w

have been greater. Nevertheless, g iven i t s tough to get establ ished brand at t r ibutes

budge even an inch or two, the resul ts were encouraging. The re l iabi l i ty message in

of the communicat ion seem to have f i l tered through. Perhaps more important ly, thou

there was an increase in people say ing theyd be proud to own a Honda. Another ind

that people were feel ing better about the brand.

Honda was becoming:


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The Cog commerc ia l d id a part icular ly good job of gett ing some of the brand va lues ac

Amongst other th ings, people credi ted i t wi th making them feel that Honda was more

innovat ive, imaginat ive and opt imist ic . I t was no coinc idence - these were va lues tha

absolutely at the heart of Hondaness, and so The Book of Dreams. This chart shows

how much of a leg-up Cog gave the brands image. A lso, i t was encouraging to see th

communicat ions that fo l lowed worked to keep those levels r ight up there.


53/81

They say that theres no such thing as bad publ ic i ty . Maybe. Given the choice thoug

be honest - youd rather i t was good. Part icular ly i f youre a brand look ing to impress

audience who harbour some negat ive preconcept ions.

PR t rack ing showed that the campaign generated much improved press coverage for H

There was increased volume of the very good k ind of PR. In addi t ion, there was a ve

posi t ive impact on very pos i t ive

impact scores (a ca lculat ion

which factors in everything f rom

ci rculat ion to ar t ic le s ize to page

locat ion) .


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I t wasnt just Honda cars that journa l is ts ta lked more favourably about . The

communicat ions themselves generated t remendous media momentum, gett ing covered

extensively by the nat iona l press and telev is ion.


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Results : Hard Measures

So the brand measures were showing that the communicat ions were making people fe

better about Honda. So far so good. That was just the f luf fy stuf f though. Important

of course, but was this brand reva luat ion gett ing people to actua l ly do anything?

Knowing a bi t more about Honda led to them want ing to know even more st i l l .

The communicat ions acted l ike jump- leads in jo l t ing people into going onl ine to Honda

Steady growth reached incredible

new levels when the Cog ad

went on a i r , and saw other

spikes around act iv i ty l i ke IMA.


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By the end of 2003, honda.co.uk was welcoming more v is i tors than the UK s i tes for t

l i kes of Ford and Mercedes-Benz.


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There was a 302% increase in searches for Honda dea ler informat ion.


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The Cog ad generated a t rebl ing of ca l ls to Honda - mainly for brochure requests.


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Gett ing people to v is i t your websi te or g ive you a ca l l i s hard enough, but gett ing the

to take the t ime and t rouble to go to your showrooms is even tougher . The campaign

persuaded more people to do just that .


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Not only were more people going to these dea lerships, but af ter the campaign launch

a higher percentage of those t r ips led to a sa le.

The dea lers , who had been brought into the whole Power of Dreams programme, were

c lear ly doing a great job. P lus, people were walk ing into dea lerships feel ing better

about owning a Honda, and so more of them came out holding the keys to one.


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The combinat ion of more showroom traf f ic and higher convers ion rates natura l ly led to

s igni f icant increase in tota l Honda sa les. Honda had sold 66,981 cars in the year up t

campaign launch. By the end of 2003, the annual f igure had r isen to 81,858. That s a

increase of 22%.


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A s imi lar pattern of growth in market share took place.

In a market worth 40 bi l l ion a year , smal l improvements in market share can obv ious

have massive f inanc ia l s igni f icance.


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There were a number of success stor ies f rom indiv idua l models . The Honda CR-V was

such case. Awareness overtook that for Freelander - the sector leader - and sa les gro

was considerable and susta ined.

The ev idence was there to v indicate the th ink ing of the market ing st rategy. Tel l ing pe

the t ruth about Honda, communicated in the r ight way, made them feel better about t

brand. A better feel ing about the brand led to thei r greater des i re to own a Honda ca

This increased des i re t rans lated into increased act ion; 22% more s igning on the dottel ine-type act ion, to be prec ise.


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Conclusion

In a market where you have to run rea l ly rea l ly fast just to stand st i l l , any growth at a

could be regarded as successful . 22% growth represents a lot more than standing st

Market ing communicat ions were created that were not only d i f ferent for the category

di f ferent for any category. That d i f ferent iat ion was del ivered wi th a re levance that

successful ly argued the t ruth of Hondas case. The communicat ions were provably no

and ac ted upon.

This is a story about conf idence. Not about coming acrossas conf ident , but rather ab

a hav ing the convict ion to behave di f ferent ly. I t s a story about hav ing the intui t ive

conf idence to bel ieve that s imply communicat ing a companys cul ture can be persuas i

Perhaps more important ly , i t s a story about hav ing the conf idence to communicate th

cul ture wi th unique creat ive bravery.

But i t s only the star t of the story . So far weve only seen the f i rst few episodes. P l

keep watching.


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Results: Soft Measures

How do new re lat ionships between people happen? It s about gett ing not iced, gett ing understood

and gett ing wanted. Or at least not gett ing b lown-out . And th is was how it needed to be for the

re lat ionsh ip between Honda and i t s aud ience. Brand t rack ing was commiss ioned to measure those

e lements, in o rder to judge how wel l the market ing campaign was bu i ld ing that re lat ionsh ip.

By 2003, the stats showed that

Honda was on the top o f a lo t

more minds than i t had been

before the campaign began.

Fami l i a r i t y wi th the b rand had

a lso improved - so peop le c la imed

to know more about Honda. The

next l ink in the cha in was v i t a l .

The who le st rategy was based on

the bel ief that making people

know more about Honda wou ld

lead to them want ing one. As thechar t shows, th is was ach ieved to

the tune o f a 36% increase in

desire, and b low-outs being

a lmost ha lved .

Base : A l l adu l t sSource: Simon Carpenter Ad Tracker


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But what about Honda owners? This wasnt one of those market ing br iefs with mustnt

a l ienate cur rent users on i t . The communicat ions needed to do more than that - they had

to make owners proud to say I dr ive a Honda. Tracking amongst owners demonstrated

improved fami l iar i ty with Honda and considerably greater desire to have one for their next car .

Base : Honda OwnersSource: Simon Carpenter Ad Tracker


67/81

More speci f ic sh i f ts in b rand image were a lso measured . Data f rom before the relaunch

wasnt avai lab le, unfortunately, so the fo l lowing chart shows changes between post -

re launch and the end of 2003.

Base : A l l adu l t sSource: Simon Carpenter Brand Monitor


68/81

Had pre -campaign data been ava i lab le , i t s reasonab le to assume that these changes wou ld

have been greater . Nevertheless, g iven i t s tough to get establ ished brand att r ibutes to

budge even an inch or two, the results were encouraging. The re l iab i l i ty message in some

of the communica t ion seem to have f i l tered through. Perhaps more important ly, though,

there was an increase in people saying theyd be proud to own a Honda. Another indicat ion

that people were feel ing better about the brand.

Honda was becoming :


69/81

The Cog commerc ia l d id a par t icu lar ly good job o f get t ing some of the b rand va lues across.

Amongst other th ings, people credited i t with making them feel that Honda was more

innovat ive , imag inat ive and opt imist ic . I t was no co inc idence - these were va lues that were

abso lu te ly at the hear t o f Hondaness, and so The Book o f Dreams. Th is char t shows just

how much of a leg -up Cog gave the b rand s image. A lso , i t was encourag ing to see that a l l

communicat ions that fo l lowed worked to keep those levels r ight up there.

Base : A l l adu l t sSource: Simon Carpenter Ad Tracker


70/81

They say that theres no such th ing as bad publ ic i ty. Maybe. Given the choice though, let s

be honest - you d rather i t was good. Par t icu lar ly i f you re a b rand look ing to impress an

aud ience who harbour some negat ive p reconcept ions.

PR t rack ing showed that the campaign generated much improved p ress coverage fo r Honda.

There was increased vo lume of the very good k ind o f PR. In add i t ion , there was a very

posi t ive impact on very pos i t i ve

impact scores (a ca lcu lat ion

which factors in everyth ing f rom

ci rcu lat ion to ar t ic le s i ze to page

locat ion ) .

Source: Precise Media Inf luence Index


71/81

I t wasn t just Honda cars that journa l is ts ta lked more favourab ly about . The

communicat ions themse lves generated t remendous med ia momentum, get t ing covered

extens ive ly by the nat iona l p ress and te lev is ion .


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Resul ts : Hard Measures

So the brand measures were showing that the communicat ions were making people feel

better about Honda. So far so good. That was just the f luf fy stuff though. Important f luf f ,

o f course , but was th is b rand reva luat ion get t ing peop le to actua l ly do anyth ing?

Knowing a b it more about Honda led to them want ing to know even more st i l l .

The communicat ions acted l ike jump-leads in jo l t ing people into going onl ine to Honda.

Steady growth reached incredib le

new leve ls when the Cog ad

went on ai r , and saw other

sp ikes around act iv i t y l i ke IMA.

Source : Honda UK


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By the end o f 2003, honda.co .uk was we lcoming more v is i to rs than the UK s i tes fo r the

l ikes of Ford and Mercedes-Benz.

Source: Honda UK


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There was a 302% increase in searches for Honda dealer informat ion.

Source : Honda UK


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The Cog ad generated a t rebl ing of cal ls to Honda - main ly for brochure requests.

Source : Honda Ca l l Cent re


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Gett ing people to visi t your website or g ive you a cal l is hard enough, but gett ing them

to take the t ime and t rouble to go to your showrooms is even tougher. The campaign

persuaded more peop le to do just that .

Source : Honda UK


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Not only were more people going to these dealerships, but af ter the campaign launch,

a h igher percentage of those t r ips led to a sale.

The dealers, who had been brought into the whole Power of Dreams programme, were

c lear ly do ing a g reat job . P lus, peop le were walk ing into dea le rsh ips fee ling bet te r

about owning a Honda, and so more of them came out hold ing the keys to one.

Source : Honda UK


78/81

The combinat ion of more showroom traf f ic and h igher conversion rates natural ly led to a

s ign i f i cant increase in to ta l Honda sa les. Honda had so ld 66 ,981 cars in the year up to the

campaig n launch. By the end of 2003, the annual f igure had r isen to 81,858. That s an

increase of 22%.

Source : Honda UK


79/81

A s imi lar pat te rn o f g rowth in market share took p lace .

In a market wor th 40 b i l l ion a year, smal l improvements in market share can obv ious ly

have massive f inanc ia l s ign i f i cance .

Source : Honda UK


80/81

There were a number o f success sto r ies f rom ind iv idua l mode ls . The Honda CR-V was one

such case. Awareness overtook that for Freelander - the sector leader - and sales growth

was considerab le and susta ined .

The evidence was there to vindicate the th inking of the market ing st rategy. Tel l ing people

the t ruth about Honda, communicated in the r ight way, made them feel better about the

brand. A better feel ing about the brand led to their greater desire to own a Honda car .

This increased desire t ranslated into increased act ion; 22% more signing on the dotted

l ine-type act ion, to be precise.

Source : Honda UK


81/81

Conclus ion

In a market where you have to run rea l ly rea l l y f ast just to stand st i l l , any g rowth at a l l

could be regarded as successful . 22% growth represents a lot more than standing st i l l .

Market ing communicat ions were created that were not only d i f ferent for the category, but

dif ferent for any category. That d i f ferent iat ion was del ivered with a re levance that

success ful ly argued the t ruth of Hondas case. The communicat ions were provably not iced

and acted upon.

Th is is a sto ry about conf idence . Not about coming across as conf ident , but rather about

a having the convict ion to behave d if ferent ly. I t s a story about having the intu it ive

conf idence to be l ieve that s imp ly communicat ing a companys cu l tu re can be persuas ive .

Perhaps more important ly, i t s a story about having the conf idence to communicate that

culture with unique creat ive bravery.

But i t s only the star t of the story. So far weve only seen the f i rst few episodes. Please

keep watch ing .

0 marketing society honda paper[1]

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