This story was uppdated Feb. 20, 2013
One industry that continues to invest more and more into social engagement is the automobile business and as a result, WOMMA and the Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA) created the Driving Engagement Award.
Honda took home this inaugural award last week at the Chicago Auto Show for their “Honda Loves You Back” campaign which featured the band Monsters Calling Home, who actually filmed an entire music video in their car. Honda showed their love by organizing a live show on the Jimmy Kimmel show.
Take a look at the campaign below.
"We're so grateful for the love our customers express for their Honda vehicles," said Alicia Jones , manager of Social Media at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "I think it's the simplicity of the campaign's intent – to say thank you and share the conversation with them – that makes it work."
We sat down with Alicia for a closer look into the campaign.
Jacob Hurwith: Who came up with the idea and how did it form?
Alicia Jones: We see and hear countless stories each day about our loyal owners and their Honda vehicles. We learned about Monsters Calling Home through a friend-of-a-friend kind of referral from an account representative at our agency. It seemed like an ideal opportunity to “love them back” and help to turn our owners into brand evangelists by reciprocating.
Jacob Hurwith: How did you convince Jimmy Kimmel to let them play on the show?
Alicia Jones: They are a legit and talented indie band here in L.A., struggling to make music their livelihood. So it wasn’t totally out of left field to have them as a musical guest. That and we have an advertiser relationship with the show.
Jacob Hurwith: How else is Honda engaging their online audience?
Alicia Jones: We’re very lucky to have a socially active and vocal customer base. So we’re continuing to look for more storytelling opportunities to amplify what our customers are already doing in social. We also ran our #HondaLovesYouBack “You are our Valentine” campaign. Honda associates responded spontaneously in real time to fans who posted on Honda’s Facebook page, tweeted to @Honda or uploaded an Instagram tagged #Honda with a personalized, virtual Valentine. What better day to share the love than Valentine's Day, right? “You are our Valentine” celebrated our fans who took time to communicate with us by delivering an extra-special dose of love, featuring a photo and title of the responding Honda associate with a version of the original message to Honda.
Jacob Hurwith: What made you decide to submit for the WOMMA's Driving Engagement Award at the Chicago Auto Show? Were you surprised you won?
Alicia Jones: We wanted to participate in the Chicago Auto Show’s social media activities including the award. And, we’re a member of WOMMA. Having learned a great deal from the organization, we were glad to have the opportunity to have our campaign evaluated. We are so happy to have won!
Jacob Hurwith: Is there anything else about the campaign that you would like to share?
Alicia Jones: We’re really rooting for the band, which has since changed its name to Run River North. The members of the band are good people and it was really rewarding to help them along the way to achieving their dreams. We’re rooting for them.
We selected three automotive manufacturers as finalists for the Driving Engagement awards: Nissan and Dodge were the two runners-up.
Nissan submitted its "2013 Nissan Pathfinder Presents: An Improv-tastic Road Trip" campaign and Dodge entered its "Inspired by You" campaign to promote the 2013 Dodge Dart.
