The Power of Culture:
Honda [Case Study]

Introduction:

If you haven’t served in the military this ad probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

But, this little ad is the cornerstone of one of Honda’s breakthrough creative campaigns and a defining piece of work for us here at GNNR. I’m going to break all that down in this case study.

Let’s jump in!

CHALLENGE

Background:

For the previous 5 years, Honda was trying to gain a larger piece of the coveted Military Market, made up of Active Duty Service Members, Reserves, Spouses, and Veterans. This market represents billions in spending power and are extremely brand loyal. Their efforts focused on promoting an annual Military Appreciation Offer which gave military members $500 off qualifying vehicles – which was on par with other ‘military beloved brands’ like Ford and Dodge.

But, Honda’s results from their campaigns were consistently underwhelming.

So, Honda called us in to help them relaunch their offer with the goal of increasing their market share.

The Problem:

Getting Lost in a Sea of Sameness

During our discovery phase we looked at 100’s of ads targeting military members and realized that they all looked identical and said the same thing “Thank You for Your Service”. Honda’s previous ads were no different.

To us, that was the core problem.

The creative wasn’t landing with the audience because it looked like every other ad served to them. How would you feel if you got the same message and creative from every brand that targeted you?

SOLUTION

Creative Strategy:

Zig When Everyone Else Zags

Military members live a life so far outside the realm of normal it’s hard for most brands to make a real connection with them through culturally relevant messaging. But we knew we had to try to set Honda apart and do something different to connect them with military culture. So we set our creative guidelines:

Leverage culture to create a connection between the product, brand, and audience
Differentiate from the competition – we’re not Ford or Dodge
Stay uniquely Honda – our brand has it’s own voice
Focus on Results – aim to exceed the set KPI’s

The Big Idea:

It Starts with Culture

What we knew for sure about military members is that they carry a lot of gear. Gear they come to rely on to accomplish missions and get them through the harshest conditions. We thought the same thing could be said for the way people rely on Honda vehicles.

That was our light bulb moment.

Gear is the cultural thread that ties everything together. Our big idea was to create a correlation between military gear and Honda vehicles in fun and clever ways that resonated with the audience.

Our Approach:

Connecting Culture and Brand

This particular piece of military issued gear is called a Poncho Liner – it’s essentially a cold weather blanket.
And out of all the gear that is carried by military members it has the ability to bring unreal warmth and comfort in the harshest conditions. Making it beloved across all military members. It’s so loved in military culture that it actually has an nickname “The Woobie” (like a toddlers security blanket).

Comfort is also something you want in a vehicle you’re going to be driving every day.

Our big idea of correlating military to gear to the creature comforts of Honda vehicles was coming together and the “Little Things” Campaign was born.

The “Little Things” Campaign

Creative Campaign:

Little Things was a visually striking, slightly cheeky campaign that created correlations between military gear and Honda vehicles. We took a small budget and turned around the following creative, creating dozens of assets to work across digital display and social channels. And with the support of Honda and their amazing media partners we launched a small campaign.

Explanation of the ad creative:

Cargo Room = Duffle Bag: Military members can fit their whole life in of them.
Comfort = Woobie: The softest most loved item in the military (see above)
Reliability = MRE Spoon: The spoon that comes in military rations is practically indestructible – more of an inside joke.
Helmet = Safety: Don’t think this needs much explaining

INITIAL RESULTS

When the initial campaign performance numbers rolled in we were all super thrilled with the results – the campaign 3x Honda’s CTR’s in a really short amount of time.

But it was this comment on one of the social ads that really got everyone excited:

“Honda just used a woobie in an ad lol!!! The other car companies better step up their game”

It was time to scale…

2x Increase in CTR’s Across Display and Social

SCALING THE CAMPAIGN

With a proven concept that was checking all the boxes and driving results – we had a great foundation to build on.
We were immediately green lit to scale up the “Little Things” campaign over the next two years.

So we updated the creative and concepts to be more impactful across multiple channels and touch-points. We refreshed the look and scaled to a multi-channel integrated campaign that included

Hero Video for all Channels:

Social Media Video Ads

The Campaign also included:

Display

OTT

Native Content

Featured in Military Makeover (a home improvement show)

RESULTS

– 3.5x increase in CTR and 2.5x over index on all campaign KPI’s

– Major bumps in brand awareness across social listening, offer/brand search value, and share of voice

– Sustained growth of promotional offers being used

– Our hero video was the most downloaded asset for all Honda dealerships nationwide

Honda’s success was our success.

But another big implication for us at GNNR was how the process of connecting brand and culture led to huge results. So much so, that it has become the way we operate. We’ve grown a lot but still always ask ourselves when developing a creative strategy – “where’s the woobie?”