Hot on the heels of the recently released ‘Other Side of Honda’ campaign introducing the Civic Type R Concept, Honda Motor Europe and Wieden+Kennedy London are back with a new multi-channel campaign celebrating the Civic range and Honda’s unparalleled dedication to thorough testing.
The campaign is based on the idea that ‘there’s testing, then there’s Honda testing’, showcasing the dramatic lengths the manufacturer will go to when testing their vehicles, specifically the Civic model. At Honda’s European manufacturing plant in Swindon UK, they test the cars to the extreme in a specially controlled climate chamber from -30’c to +80’c conditions. Activity is led by a 30” film, which brings to life the extreme environments the Civic is subjected to during testing – from ice cold to extreme heat – by encasing the car in ice before slowly melting it away against a changing backdrop.
Based on an insight from consumer behaviour studies undertaken with Google, which have shown that such qualities form a key part of the purchase journey during the period of research and comparison, the campaign will highlight the Civic’s desirable looks whilst also reinforcing its reputation for safety and reliability.
The campaign launches with a 30 second film, which is further supported by a 10 second online film and print executions. A rich media ad will feature an interactive version of the film, allowing the user to change the temperature of the ad and watch the environment change in response.
Directed by Johnny Hardstaff, the film features a Civic frozen to sub-zero temperatures. Over a 5 hour sequence, the production team watched the car and snow-covered set melt, filming 200 takes of the process on a motion control rig.
The biggest challenge came in the form of stitching together the takes to achieve an in-camera melt/freeze effect. MPC's team, led by Adam Crocker, developed a technique that enabled them to navigate intuitively through hundreds of motion control takes, giving the director and creative team full creative control over the rate at which the car and floor was melting/ freezing. MPC's 3D team enhanced the scenes to augment the snow-covered environment, turning a skeleton into a snowman and a cactus into conifers.
Credits
Creative Directors: Scott Dungate & Graeme Douglass
Copywriter: Chris Lapham
Art Director: Aaron McGurk
Producer: Sally Miller
Group Account Director: Paulo Salomao
Account Director: Alex Budenberg & Lex Higlett
Executive Creative Directors: Tony Davidson / Kim Papworth
Agency Executive Producer: Danielle Stewart
PRODUCTION
Production Company: RSA
Director: Johnny Hardstuff
Executive Producer: Scott Heron
Director of Photography: Martin Ruhe
EDITORIAL
Editorial Company: Whitehouse
Editor: John Smith
VFX
VFX Company: MPC
VFX Supervisor: Carsten Keller
Flame Artist: Adam Crocker
Post Producer: Dionne Archibald
MUSIC + SOUND DESIGN
Music+Sound Company: Eclectic
Composer: Colin Smith
Sound Designer: Joe Mount
Producer: Cliff Wilson
MIX
Mix Company: Wave Studios
Mixer: Joe Mount