Case Study

Honda
"PR activity provides the Honda brand with a communications channel to bring our
brand values to life in an innovative way that profoundly impacts on consumer
perceptions. But without robust measurement and analysis, it struggles for credibility.
PRIME has allowed us to plan innovative campaigns, to maximize their impact and
drive business results."

Nik Pearson – European Communications Manager

Award-winning case study of how strategic excellence supported the

successful launch of the Honda HR-V.

Overview
Honda has been the world’s largest motorcycle
manufacturer since the 1950’s and is the world’s
largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines.
They are the world’s 8th largest automobile
manufacturer and with the target of reaching 200,000
European car sales per year (up from 132,000 in 2014),
improvement in the automobile sector is viewed by
Honda as crucial to its success. Sales of Honda cars
have halved since 2006 and 2015 was the year in which
Honda were looking to shift that trend.
Takahiro Hachigo became the new CEO and as his
appointment coincided with the launch of 5 new
models in Europe, the automotive sector had an
increased internal profile. The launches were some of
the most highly anticipated in Honda’s history and this
was particularly relevant for the HR-V: it’s new SUV
Crossover. The crossover segment is the fastest
growing in Europe and the intention is that the HR-V
can help Honda make major inroads into this
booming class of vehicles.
Renault, a more established presence in this sector,
were launching the Kadjar at a similar time, which
presented Honda with a natural benchmark against
which they could draw comparisons.
The new HR-V: Making Honda’s entry
into Europe's fastest-growing crossover sector.
Back in 1999 Honda created this sector with the
original HR-V. It set the trend then, and this new
version will raise the bar. With its coupe-like
design coupled the versatility and stature of an
SUV; HR-V expertly blends practicality and
dynamic good looks.
Phillip Ross, Honda Motor Europe SVP Sales
- Geneva press conference entitled “It all starts now…”
Honda | Case Study
Challenge
Honda knows that they are renowned for efficiency
and reliability; 2015 saw them set a Guinness World
Record™ for fuel efficiency (i), and they were named
as the UK's most reliable car manufacturer for the
ninth consecutive year (ii). These are both influential
criteria affecting the likelihood to purchase but as a
new player in the SUV sector, to compete with the
established brands they needed to create desire
amongst the HR-V’s target audience.
The creation of anticipation was one of PRs primary
goals. Because there was no marketing activity prior
to August 2015, PR was directly responsible for
communicating with the right car buying community
to create desire, drive interest, and ultimately to drive
sales.
Honda has a 1% share of the automotive market in
Europe. For the HR-V launch to be viewed as a success,
it needed to achieve the same market share in the very
competitive SUV segment they were entering; a bold
objective.
As a long-term partner to Honda, PRIME’s role was to
use analysis to:
 Provide strategic insight for launch strategy and
the best media to achieve maximum impact
 Facilitate KPI setting and track success against
selected competing models
 Track message penetration throughout 2015 to
allow for iterative adjustments
 Link PR successes to Honda’s business objectives
– anticipation and increased market share
Strategy
Success of the program was going to be governed in
part by editorial media performance (social media was
out of scope), but also how that impacted on third
party endorsements and sales. The analysis program
adopted the AMEC endorsed, “input, output, outtake,
outcome” strategy for reporting. Planning started in
October 2014 ahead of the HR-V launch in August
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2015 and there were some crucial aspects of the
planning phase which were designed to give Honda
strategic advantage.
Phasing – timing the program correctly
PRIME’s first role was to recommend the most
effective phasing of media coverage. For that purpose
we undertook analysis of historic motor show data.
PRIME interpreted which phases of the
communications strategy the team should focus on,
pre-show, in-show or post show, and which media
should be given most attention during each phase.
This normative benchmark against historic data gave
insight into how the media landscape would evolve
and therefore how best for Honda to plan.
identified in the research. We undertook competitive
analysis across 6 markets and 5 models.
Metrics – choosing the right indicators to ensure
success
Earned media content analysis would enable PRIME to
demonstrate message penetration tailored to each
phase of the program, and allow for adjustments
throughout the year.
To support Honda gaining on competitors, PRIME
recommended setting KPI’s based on the research
above. Although it was tracked, volume based metrics
alone would not provide insight to facilitate an
informed campaign, so direct qualitative compari-son
was the focus of the analysis strategy.

Appropriate Targeting – a focused approach Our program of benchmarking, coupled with rapid
“flash” reports helped Honda understand the media
PRIME worked with Honda and their PR agency to
landscape as and when they needed to. The reports
design a plan to deliver high quality coverage to the
included SWOT analyses to inform strategy and drive
right audience. Research allowed us to categorize
course-correction across the launch period.
media into tiered categories. Factors of influence
included reach, target audience suitability and
More data - Primary Research to inform planning
proximity to purchase decision – e.g. research shows
consumers have a higher propensity to read titles such In order to leverage better relationships, PRIME
as What Car? in the consideration phase of the buying proposed the inclusion of primary research with
cycle and this was specifically targeted to drive desire. journalists into the factors that affected their attitude
toward cars and the best communications instruments
Intelligence was gathered across Europe and used to
to use to increase their satisfaction levels (see below –
inform markets of the outlets and journalists to invite
Execution - Conducting Primary Research).
to launch events.

Benchmarking – conducting research to inform Execution

planning
To ensure Honda had the best chance of driving desire
Because of the almost simultaneous launch of the
there were some crucial aspects of the planning phase
Kadjar, PRIME undertook historic research into the
which were implemented to give Honda insight over
SUV sector which would identify prominent topics and
and above its competitors.
features. The research uncovered what the journalists
wrote about most prominently when discussing
Data informs a successful strategy
competing vehicles as well as the previous iterations
of the models being launched. PRIME’s analysis of previous motor show data had
clear findings to learn from. These findings were fed
Further analysis was undertaken of launch events to
into Honda’s launch timing and informed their
see if they differed from pre and post launch
strategy.
commentary to inform the messaging. As a result of
this, PRIME proposed a series of benchmarking PRIME’s analysis found that:
reports which were to focus on the influential topics

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 The pre-show period is essential for success,
accounting for 40% of total show visibility.
 The largest visibility spike occurs within the week
of the press days.
 Post-show reporting accounts for 33% of
coverage. Visibility levels persist for two weeks.
 Show phase communication should be adapted to
cater to specific media genres.
 TV coverage grows in importance during the in-
show phase, outside of which it is less influential.
Conducting Primary Research
To ensure Honda had the maximum insight into what
the journalists valued most highly, primary research
was conducted internationally. This global community
gave their views on methods of engagement and
factors that were likely to influence their experience of
a car. The research went beyond measures that the PR
team were directly responsible for and incorporated
data that wider teams could leverage. The research
provided insight into how long journalists were willing
to travel to events, how many vehicles they prefer to
drive and the duration of test drives. This information
was fed back to the wider planning teams.
The research had a direct impact on the campaign.
Traditional tools of the PR community such as press
packs, releases and Motor shows were found to be
less relevant than personal contact and the structure
of drive events. Closer internal liaison with the press
and events team was initiated to ensure the research
was acted upon. The quality and location of the events
are crucial factors of influence, and providing a variety
of vehicles was also important. Access to
management, experts and designers was seen as a
weakness of the automotive sector and this was
addressed to provide further competitive advantage.
Phasing of the messages
PRIME’s pre-launch research showed that phasing of
messages can lead to a more successful campaign.
The initial phase of the program saw messaging
planned for the more aspirational elements of the
Honda | Case Study
vehicle. These included messaging around the “Honda
Connect infotainment system” (touchscreen that puts
music, phones and GPS in one interface) and the
“Advanced Driver Assist Systems“(early warning
systems which monitors hidden traffic, traffic signs
and lane variation). Communicating techno-logical
innovation was scheduled to spark early interest and
space, looks and handling messages were planned for
delivery around the time of the launch. Analysis
showed the phased approach was successfully
executed.
Ongoing reporting
PRIME introduced a reporting structure which would
allow Honda to capitalize on the insights delivered
from the analytics program. This began with pre-
campaign reporting and research, combined with
regular reports across the European markets. The
reports explored share of voice versus sales in each
market, key strengths and message penetration of
Honda versus competitors, plus key insights on media
opportunities (see below).
Because targeting and quality was more important
than quantity of coverage, PRIME took the
opportunity to help move Honda forward from a
legacy AVE reporting structure. This was achieved by
creating a proprietary score which factored in tone,
placement of coverage in tiered media, use of imagery
as well as research into how media is consumed and
consequently the likelihood of exposure to audience.
Competitive KPI setting to strengthen a new
sector
PRIME worked directly with Honda to define
competitor models. Using historical data, PRIME
explored metrics and performance levels to provide
the client with KPI’s for each phase of the launch.
These targets were constantly monitored to focus the
teams on the achievement of goals relevant to each
phase of the program.
Although volume of output, as anticipated, was not as
high as the Kadjar, the favorability was better and the
metrics at each stage of the communications program
worked well.
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Using research to reach to the right audience
Our research ensured successful targeting. Under-
taking gap analysis on journalists and exploring their
associated tone and preferred subject matter was part
of the planning and on-going reporting. This analysis
provided intelligence on opportunities to engage with
influential journalists who the team knew had not yet
told the Honda story, ensuring their targeting was
informed and well executed.
At the end of the campaign Honda presented the
insights to the management team and in-market PR
directors in order to learn from their findings and
more accurately target media for upcoming model
launches in 2016.
Results
Input, output, outtake, outcome
Leveraging analysis in an intelligent way ensured that
media output was successful, but more importantly,
demonstrated PR’s role in driving business outcomes.
Crucially, earned media was almost exclusively
responsible for results. Due to an absence of
marketing activity prior to August 2015 coupled with
no dealer having cars in showrooms, PR activity was
the chief driver of sales. The Input, Output, Outtake,
Outcome model was a tremendous success for this
campaign.
Input – Planning and research success informs
launch strategy
This well scoped research offered competitive insight
and ensured Honda targeted the most influential
outlets to achieve its goals. PRIME highlighted the
importance of the timing of auto show
communications, leading Honda to execute the pre-
launch of the HR-V a month in advance of the Paris
Auto Show. As a consequence, the HR-V ranked as the
most visible compact SUV at the show, illustrating
align-ment with the objective of taking market share.
PRIME’s KPI setting and competitor insights allowed
Honda to adapt strategy throughout the campaign.
Primary research with the journalist community also
Honda | Case Study
offered strategic insight the wider planning teams
could benefit from.
Output - Media success as demonstrated through
analysis
Strong performance of messages around
technological developments in the early phase of the
campaign and factors that were more likely to
influence a sale later on in the campaign, meant
tracking the phased messaging was crucial.
In line with the objectives, our research showed that
the HR-V outperformed the Kadjar in areas such as
space, versatility, price, running cost, safety and
handling. This was the success the campaign required
in terms of media output, as space and versatility were
key areas for the brand in order to resonate with the
target audience: families with a need for space and a
comfortable ride. All the qualitative indicators of
success from the media analysis were positive.
The Honda HR-V is the car What Car?
readers are looking forward to seeing the most
in 2015. It won this year's Reader Award … with
more than 26% of the vote.
Tom Webster – What Car?
Outtake – success proved through 3rd party
endorsement
The analysis demonstrated that successful
communication to the right audience, through the
right media led to the goal of creating anticipation
being achieved. Appropriate timing of engagement
led to the HR-V winning the coveted What Car?
Reader award and was named as the most eagerly
anticipated launch of 2015.
Outcome – PR as the driver of sales
The launch of HR-V has been a success. Despite supply
problems caused by issues with a production plant
and shipping during November and December,
Honda has an order bank of 12,000 units across
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Europe. To put this into perspective, that’s more than

half the sales plan for this entire year.
Thanks to the PR efforts, market share figures
demonstrate the fast start Honda achieved with the
HR-V. Germany and Poland have seen the best
performance. In Germany, where the HR-V
outperformed the Kadjar in the media, it has already
achieved a market share of 1.3% - almost double the
share of market that Honda achieves in that country.
In Poland where the coverage was particularly strong
sales have been over 4 times that which it achieves in
that market. This is particularly impressive as it is the
most competitive sector in the automotive industry.
Throughout Europe the HR-V segment share is
outperforming the Honda market share in all the
markets where analysis was undertaken – France,
Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK. The sales
goal was achieved.
The insightful analysis, based on a close partnership
between PRIME and Honda, ensured the client could
use data to form strategy, adjust tactics and
successfully link PR efforts to business outcomes. This
solid approach to best practice measurement ensured
PR’s role was fully appreciated internally, leading to an
increase in budget assignment for future launches; an
excellent outcome for the team and an endorsement
for the effective use of measurement and analysis.

References:

http://hondanews.eu/gb/en/cars/media/pressreleases/57278/honda-sets-new-guinness-world-records-title-for-fuel-efficiency-
averaging-10031-miles-per-gallon-in

http://hondanews.eu/gb/en/cars/media/pressreleases/54555/honda-named-uks-most-reliable-car-manufacturer-for-ninth-
consecutive-year

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/honda-hr-v-wins-2015-car-reader-award/1328126