Honda Odyssey has giant monsters battle in multichannel marketing push

Dive Brief:

Honda is launching a multichannel campaign around the NBA and NHL finals to promote its new Odyssey minivan, with TV and digital video spots titled "Keep the Peace" as the centerpiece, per a company news release. "Keep the Peace" depicts two siblings' backseat bickering as a battle between giant monsters, with their parents serving as military personnel trying to save the city via the Odyssey's Magic Slide seats, which can separate riders from one another at the push of a button.
The full effort also includes in-theater ads, social initiatives targeting families, digital, print and out-of-home activations and an experiential partnership with Disney. Honda is introducing a separate 30-second TV spot called "Now Boarding" intended for Hispanic audiences and airing on national networks like Univision and Telemundo.
The Disney partnership includes a "Disney Unlock the Magic Sweepstakes," with one winner getting a vacation to Disneyland and a new 2018 Honda Odyssey. Campaign content will feature the minivan with Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and an appearance by the auto maker at the D23 Expo fan event in July.

Dive Insight:

Honda has revamped the Odyssey for its latest iteration and is enacting a wide-ranging marketing push to showcase the minivan's new features, including the Magic Slide seats, along with cutting edge technology like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The automaker also recently partnered with MGM's Epix to bring its library of more than 2,000 movies to the Odyssey's rear-seat entertainment systems.

Not only does Honda's latest campaign cover a number of marketing channels, it also hones a highly-targeted approach, with spots running ahead of blockbuster kids' movies like "Cars 3" and "Despicable Me 3." The creative of "Keep the Peace" features Hollywood-caliber special effects to match those movies' animated spectacles, per the release, and should impress both children and their parents.

The ads will run on network, cable and national broadcast TV along with online video, and the new minivan will be promoted in programming and high-profile sports properties. Part of the digital portion of the campaign features taking over portal homepages including Yahoo!, MSN and The Weather Channel.