Will grandstanding save the TV commercial?
Honda’s latest commercial is two minutes long and is scheduled to break during this Friday’s high rating ‘I’m a Celebrity…’ on ITV, Marketing Week reports. As the third installment of Honda’s revered advertising campaign by Wieden & Kennedy, the ad represents a kind of ‘apppointment to view’ advertising not seen since the glory days of the Superbowl adbreak.
The new ad features past and present Honda vehicles, including the very first Super Cub C100 bike launched in 1956 as well as one of its speedboats. The two-minute live action spot aims to illustrate Honda’s racing heritage, with the products featured all coming with a story attached of how the Honda engineers were able to defy the odds to make a product possible.
Chanel attempted a similiar coup last Christmas with a Baz Luhrmann-directed mini film that ran during Moulin Rouge. In that case, the ad just came a poor second to the film, starring as it did Nicole Kidman and lots of sparkle. Honda, by contrast, has a recent history of excellent branded entertainment that has actually translated into business success. Let’s hope they pull it off.
An alternative point of view is that TV advertising is experiencing some kind of death spasm. Clients and agencies continue to pour more and more money into TV just as questions are being raised over the longevity and effectiveness of the medium. Honda and Sony are just two advertisers who have recently boasted about spending millions on their recent television commercials. This is despite other major advertisers such as Heineken pulling TV support altogether. TV advertising was always about who could shout loudest but now that consumers can manipulate media themselves, is anyone paying attention?
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