Innovative marketing and psychology

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Innovative Marketing: Honda Singing Road

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November 11, 2008

The marketing wizards at Honda have created a singing road that plays the William Tell Overture (you know, the theme from Lone Ranger) when a Honda Civic’s tires pass over it at 55 mph. The stunt was developed to film a Honda commercial promoting the Civic a while back, but it’s quickly become a tourist attraction for Lancaster, Ca. (when the city paved over it, people protested, so they’re building it again.)


(There’s more video of it here).

This is just the kind of thing that gets people talking. Sure, there’s no hard discount, no clever tagline, no fancy graphics, and to be frank, carving grooves into a highway to create a song has basically nothing to do with a Honda Civic (Honda has developed a mini-site to document the entire campaign, here).

But, the campaign:

  • Shows off the innovative thinking behind the company that creates the Civic, which adds credibility and strength to the Honda brand.
  • Gets people talking. When you hear about it, the natural thing to ask is “Who did this?” It’s an easy transition.
  • Shows off the brand in a new light. This campaign is a way to tell the world indirectly that Honda is more than just an Japanese automaker that builds reliable, economic cars. They’re also fun, playful, clever and innovative.
  • Has way, way more bang for the buck. Honda could have bought some banner ads, an ad or two in major magazines and newspapers and more air time for ads, but this campaign has gotten so much PR it’s sickening. When you have Wired Magazine, Autoblog, The LA Times, MSN, CNet, hundreds of thousands of other news reports and blogs, and dozens of Youtube videos posted about it, you know you’ve got some real buzz marketing going on.

    • Innovation can be in anything. Don’t pass up any idea, no matter how hair-brained it might seem at the time. Be creative.

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