Honda Jazz brings back the drive-in cinema

Client: Honda

Agency: Leo Burnett Melbourne

Market: Australia

Campaign Scope: TVC, direct, online, mobile and social

Background: The vehicle's “Magic Seats” flip and fold into 18 combinations or four modes, which according to the brand allows the car to carry large objects like bicycles, full-length surfboards or waist-high potted plants. Owners can also sit in the backseat and stretch their legs out to the front of the vehicle.

To emphasise this feature, Leo Burnett Melbourne devised a mobile drive-in: an outdoor movie event that will pop up in random locations in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Users will be able to track the pop-up events, secure tickets and invite friends to upgrade themselves to VIP seating on the brands online, mobile and social platforms. A retinue of Honda Jazz vehicles will transport the hardware for the event and create publicity for the campaign.

Press release quote:  Andrew Woodhead, creative director of Leo Burnett Melbourne: “The Mobile Drive-In is an experiential event and a product demonstration in one.”

Jason Miller, general manager of communications and customer, Honda Australia: “This Honda Jazz activation sits perfectly within our brand platform of clever thinking. The Magic Mobile Drive-In is as much about engaging and entertaining our audience as it is about selling cars per se. It’s important we connect with the next generation of buyers to ensure we shift current perceptions.”

Comments: The first American-style drive-in theatre in Australia opened in Melbourne in 1954, and the theatres were quite popular for a time. Although drive-ins are a thing of the past now, the Honda Jazz campaign puts a modern twist on the nostalgia-laden event whilst showcasing the vehicles latest features. Provided it catches on and that the pop-ups are well-timed, the drive-in events, which will also have food trucks and activities, could generate word of mouth and earned media coverage. It’ll be interesting to see the results after the summertime campaign launches in November.

CREDITS

Honda 

General Manager Communications & Customer: Jason Miller
Brand Communications Manager: Melissa Altarelli
Brand Communications Specialist: Sarah Tolliday
Brand Communications Specialist: Megan McDermott

Leo Burnett Melbourne

ECD: Jason Williams
CD: Andrew Woodhead
Head of Copy: Sarah McGregor
Senior Art Directors: Rob McDowell & Justin Nagorcka
Digital Art Director: Tim Shelley
Senior Digital Designer: Christine Calo
Senior Agency Producer: Cinnamon Darvall
Freelance Producer: Anne Combe
Group Account Director: Chris Ivanov
Senior Account Director: Jaime Morgan
Account Manager: Jacquelyn Whelan
Production Company: Exit Films
Director: Stephen Caroll
Producer: Tobias Webster