Media

The all-new 2013 Honda Accord is launching September 19, with an emotionally driven, integrated multimedia campaign designed to artfully highlight the new Accord's sophisticated design, dynamic performance, rich feature content and value.

The 'It Starts with You' campaign, was built around the Honda philosophy of designing the Accord around the needs of the driver and occupants. The Accord campaign highlights numerous new technologies that enhance the model's dynamic driving experience, as well as, the styling cues that improve visibility and efficiency.

"This campaign demonstrates how Honda's deep understanding of the customer allowed our engineers to perfect the midsize sedan in the new Accord," said Mike Accavitti, vice president of automotive marketing at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "The new Accord excels in all areas that are important to the midsize buyer so we created an emotionally engaging launch campaign that delivers that message while showing what makes Honda different from the competition and the smart choice."

Starting this week, the Accord will maintain a heavy presence on TV with spots that have a decidedly real and earnest feel and are meant to capture everyday people living their busy lives.

"We didn't want to show a commercial-perfect representation of life. Our characters have flaws," said Jason Sperling, senior vice president and group creative director at RPA. "They get mad and pound the steering wheel. Sometimes they are happy, sometimes exhausted, sometimes frustrated or impatient. Sometimes they take their eyes off the road for a split second. Sometimes they just want a moment of peace."

The Accord campaign also extends to include unique culturally relevant elements for Hispanic and African American consumers.  Both campaigns were developed to be complementary with the general market but have a unique take on the "It Starts with You" campaign.

"The Hispanic market campaign focuses on the themes of achievement and moving forward without forgetting the past, which are representative of the Hispanic experience in the U.S.," said Robert Santiago, director of client services at Orci.
The Hispanic advertising campaign is titled "Pensado en Ti" (made with you in mind), while the African American campaign is told through the eyes of children in a spot called "Role Models".

"We wanted to highlight technology that would appeal to the African American consumer in a way that would resonate with their daily lives," said Wilky Lau, executive creative officer with Muse Communications. "Telling the story through children allows us to highlight the importance of the vehicle's innovative technology in real-life scenarios."

To establish the "It Starts with You" premise, Honda, for the first time, is airing a 90-second spot, "We Know You." Subsequent spots highlight specific areas of the Accord's new feature set: technology, luxury, performance and safety. A series of 15-second spots focus on specific features like Lane Departure Warning and Honda's exclusive LaneWatch™ blind spot camera system.

Spots will be seen during the Emmys® and during the most-talked-about new-season premieres, including "CSI," "Dancing with the Stars," "Fringe," "Mike and Molly," "Modern Family," "NCIS," "Revenge," "60 Minutes," "The Good Wife," "The Mentalist" and several others. There will be additional presence during the MLB World Series, college football, NFL, NHL Winter Classic and regular-season games and the NBA. Accord video units will also run prior to connected TV app content such as movies, TV and music via gaming consoles and Smart TV devises. In a Honda first, the Spanish-language TV spot will debut on an English-language network when it airs on NBC during the 2012 NCLR ALMA Awards on September 21.  

The print, outdoor and online extensions of the campaign take a lighter look at humanity. Simple and iconic portraits of people demonstrate the benefits of a particular advanced Accord feature. In one execution, a woman's overly large hairstyle hinders her peripheral vision, making a strong case for the vehicle's LaneWatch™ capability. Other ads feature a baby lulled to sleep by the Accord's extra-quiet interior and a bubble-gum-blowing executive whose view is blocked by an enormous bubble, showing a moment where the vehicle's new Forward Collision Warning could help prevent an accident.

Print will run in Forbes, People and Wired and in high-profile special issues, including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and TIME Person of the Year issue. Outdoor will be seen in 28 markets, and national in-theater will run in October.

Two premier digital firsts will position Accord creative in new and interesting places:

• One of the first advertisers to integrate with Pulse, a news aggregating mobile and tablet app and will be featured on many of the most popular feeds.
• Sponsor of NFL video content across desktop, mobile and tablet, including Video on Demand.

To create immediate reach, home-page takeovers are planned on AOL, MSN, Yahoo! and YouTube. The Accord will also be the presenting sponsor of a new original Yahoo! video series, "The Road to Saturday," which follows college football teams in a documentary style as they prepare for an upcoming game. In addition, Accord creative will also be integrated into the two largest mobile social games: Words With Friends and Scramble With Friends.

About Honda
Honda offers a complete lineup of Honda cars, trucks and service through a network of 1,037 Honda dealerships within the United States. In 2012, Honda will mark 30 years of producing automobiles in the region¹, which began with the Accord in Marysville, Ohio in November 1982. Having produced over 23 million vehicles in North America, Honda currently operates 7 major automobile manufacturing facilities in the region.

Connect with Honda:
Media Newsroom (for journalists): www.hondanews.com
For consumers: http://automobiles.honda.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Honda
YouTube: www.youtube.com/honda
Flickr: www.flickr.com/hondanews
Twitter: www.twitter.com/honda
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/honda
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+honda

¹Honda products are produced using domestic and globally sourced parts.

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