Turning car brands into screen icons

Honda’s recent move to develop its own YouTube channel reflects a growing trend amongst brands to develop their own content, and was borne out of a desire to move beyond traditional advertising. While the decision to develop rich, bespoke content should be roundly applauded, perhaps there are additional formats to showcase such content and maximise Honda’s efforts.

According to the FAME (Film Audience Measurement Evaluation) study, which delves into the demographic make-up of UK cinemagoers, young professionals are the core target audience for car brands. Tellingly, when these findings are coupled with research from the freshly published 2014 BFI Yearly Statistical Yearbook – which disclosed that the sought-after target market of younger audiences are the most avid cinemagoers, making up 47% of admissions in 2013 – it makes a compelling argument for cinema advertising.

Not only is the cinema a truly immersive and powerful experience for the consumer, but for car brands seeking to make a positive and lasting impression with their audience, the increasingly sophisticated sound, proliferation of technological advances in screen fidelity, and the relaxed and receptive mindset of the audience all combine to deliver a powerful advertising solution.

BMW is one such advertiser that recently took advantage of cinema’s powerful attributes as an advertising medium. The campaign not only showcased the fundamental strengths of the medium but also demonstrated that cinema is now an interactive forum for advertisers to truly connect with consumers. The three week interactive screen time campaign promoting the new BMW 2 Series Coupé used the Cinime app to pick the perfect driving line, acceleration and braking point into a corner – gamifying the cinema experience.

Original content can really give a brand standout, as demonstrated by Volkswagen’s long-standing support of independent cinemas in the UK. Having invested in a series of films directed by Hollywood director Paul W S Anderson, to bring its “made for real life, not the movies” strapline to life, the automotive brand encapsulates what creative, witty and engaging content can do for a brand in the cinema medium. In addition to interaction, advertisers can now connect consumers with their products through localising their ads, directing cinema-goers to local dealerships. A big screen campaign that we ran for Mitsubishi recently featured 176 different end frames, the largest in a campaign to date, showing how hyper-local and bespoke the medium has now become.

Honda’s commitment to creating content should be applauded as with increasing media convergence comes more consumer discernment and sophistication. Using an engaging medium such as cinema, which has clarity, standout and cut-through would make displaying this content on such an impactful platform achieve even more cut-through.