MUMBAI: Honda 2Wheelers rang in the New Year in a quirky manner as they wished the industry “Happy 2009” in January 2019. The move was a part of an interesting print ad campaign conceptualised and developed by Dentsu One – a Dentsu Aegis Network agency.
The peg behind the innovative campaign was the government regulation making it compulsory to equip every 2-wheeler of less than 125cc engine capacity with a Combi-Brake System (CBS) from 1 April 2019 onwards. Honda 2wheelers, on the other hand, had introduced the Combi-brake system in India (with equaliser technology) way back in 2009.
The agency revealed its approach towards creating the campaign, which has caught many eyeballs, stating, “The approach was to create a disruptive communication to grab reader’s attention and inform them about brand Honda’s technology leadership. The opportune time - first day of the year was selected strategically to make the message more clutter breaking.”
Dentsu One national creative director Titus Upputuru said, “At Dentsu Aegis Network we try to build brands through innovative ideas. This is an example of that spirit. Salute to Honda Two Wheelers for buying into this unique creative and release it nationally. Usual shelf life of a print ad is one day however it clearly broke the trend with conversations about the advt. & creative going viral on digital medium long after the newspaper has gone into the bin. We are delighted with the response.”
Dentsu One executive vice president Abhinav Kaushik added, “We wanted to create a communication that had immense stop value and the power to hold the reader’s attention without any dilution. A communication is considered as really effective when people start talking about it and this is what is happening right now. The objective of the campaign to reaffirm Honda’s leadership position stands successfully achieved.”
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India senior vice president, sales and marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria mentioned, “Honda has always been at the fore front of new technology introduction. We have a history of creating history in technology benchmarks adding value & convenience for our customers. While the industry is now adopting CBS aligning with regulation, we are proud to say that more than two crore happy customers are already riding CBS equipped Honda 2Wheelers. A clutter breaking simple communication to reinforce brand Honda’s technology leadership on New Year’s day was the core of this campaign.”
