Can Honda Build an Emotional Bond With Documentary Films?

One specific model, the Honda Insight, is highlighted in the “ladder” doc with a link provided for prospective shoppers. Other models will be plugged in future Webisodes.

Takeo Fukui, Honda president and CEO, expounds on the ladder metaphor and makes recurrent appearances through the films, along with Honda engineers shot in extreme close-ups.

The films are also being posted on Honda's YouTube channel and other video Web sites. Honda is using 30-second spots on NBC.com, ABC.com, CBS.com and Hulu.com. Page takeovers, roadblocks and pre-roll video will also help point Web surfers to the docs through CNN, Yahoo, Wired, Gawker Network, Discovery Channel and Time through mid-February.

The carmaker may also pay to “syndicate” the short films on some of those same sites, according Howell.

“We're just trying to seed the videos in as many places as we can,” she says.

Web surfers will be able to share and rate the films and subscribe to the Web site.

Ultimately, there will be eight or nine documentaries produced for the series in a long-term campaign to extend over the next three to five years, with a new film to be released every few months.

Honda sees its target audience as 25- to 49-year-olds who are tech savvy, value authenticity and are particularly drawn to brands they admire.

3: Kick out the Ladder

Whether consumers warm to getting that up close and personal with Honda executives and whether — fueled by brand affinity — they buy Hondas, are questions that will be answered as the campaign plays out over the next several years.

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Visit promomagazine.com/interactivemarketing for additional content related to this article:

• Q&A with an interactive marketing expert
• Honda's Web documentaries
• Comprehensive research on Web video viewing

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