Honda City looks to fuel aspirations for a ‘greater drive’

Honda Cars India has launched the fourth generation of its City sedan, for which it has rolled out an ad film created by Dentsu Marcom. The film goes on air from 10 January.

The TVC opens with a golfer and his caddie walking out of a golf course. Noticing the caddie's children playing with toy cars in their school uniforms, the golfer asks their father why they haven’t gone to school. Requested by the caddie, he goes to the children tells them he’s got something to show them - his Honda City. A jingle kicks in as the children settle down inside the car, and they set out on a drive. The kids have fun experiencing the features of the car as it cruises along. They are surprised when the car comes to a halt outside their school. The golfer explains to them that if they did not study, they’d be stuck with the toy car – and that if they did, they’d own the real car they drove to school in, one day. As they walk into school, a voice over introduces the ‘All New’ Honda City - ‘The greater drive’.

Soumitra Karnik, creative head, Dentsu Marcom, said, “Honda City has always been an aspirational car for the audience and the advertising brief was how to make an already great car greater in the minds of consumers. We concentrated on the theme 'A Greater Drive' offered by the 'One Class Above' attributes of the Honda City and its target user who is also sophisticated, stylish achiever but most importantly a class above the rest as a human being. The story of a golfer influencing kids to study if they aspire to have a great driving experience when they grow up seemed to be an apt storyline for the target audience we are talking to.”

Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice president, marketing and sales, Honda Cars India, said, “First introduced in India in January 1998, Honda City has brought joy to over 4.3 lakh customers across the country and has been the country’s most successful sedan. There has been very high anticipation amongst the Honda loyalists who have been eagerly waiting for the fourth generation City and introduction of diesel in the model.  We are sure that the new City will further strengthen the bond with our esteemed customers. The launch campaign ‘The Greater Drive’ will specifically appeal to young achievers.”

Besides the TVC, the campaign will be seen in print and on OOH.

Credits

Client: Honda Cars India
Brand team: Shakeel Anjum, Prashant Bhatnagar, Ramneek Dhar
Creative agency: Dentsu Marcom
National creative director: Soumitra Karnik
Creative team: Ekta Verma, Prachi Sharma, Amanat Dugal, Shanam Jain
Films chief: Suprotim Day, Dawa Lama
Account management: Harjot Singh Narang, Yuichi Toyoda, Abhinav Kaushik, Karun Arora, Amritesh Bakshi, Ishaan Khandpur, Manisha Joshi
Planning team: Narayan Devanathan, Anand Murty, Neha Khaneja, A Sai Karthik
Production House: Bakery Films
Director (film): Alexander Paul
Producer: Kirk Dias, Tullika Wangdi
Music: Sameeruddin