Flying start for the new Honda Civic

Take a look at some of the press photos from Frankfurt and you'll see some cars that make the Batmobile look low-tech: it's pretty easy to make a car look interesting if it's a concept vehicle decades away from production - stick a jet pack on the back or use doors that open upwards and someone is bound to take an interest. Getting people interested in a 'real' car though, one that will be in showrooms in 2012 and actually has to work, is a different prospect.

However, round the corner from the main exhibition, Honda unveiled the latest addition to its range - the 2012 Civic - to a packed house. Somehow, the car was suspended from the ceiling, and a sheet was dramatically removed in a pretty special unveiling in front of the assembled great and good of the motor industry.

The open mouths (and coverage) say it all, and by all accounts the event was a huge success. Hats off to the guys at Honda – although impressive and necessary for the big occasion, the new Civic doesn’t really need the grand entrance. We’ve seen it first hand and it’s a cracker in its own right – it’ll certainly fly once more come 2012.

Made in Britain

What does the Honda CR-V have in common with Brompton bikes and Aga cookers? The answer, as you’ve probably guessed from the title, is that all three are built in British factories. Since 1985, Honda has produced more than two million cars in its 370 acre factory in Swindon. These British-built cars go on to be driven around the world. Step into a Civic Type R in Japan and you may well find that you’re sat in a British-built car. British drivers are incredibly supportive of their local industries, and many motorists actively look to ‘buy British’ when they buy their new cars. The trouble for Honda is that, being a Japanese company, not everyone realises that Honda produces cars in Britain. Honda wanted a campaign that would highlight Honda’s British credentials to consumers, and together with digital agency Collective, we put together the Made in Britain campaign. The campaign encourages British ‘makers’ to submit their creations, and centres around a Facebook page. The very best entrants, British makers who are trying their best to turn their hobbies into a business, will each win a £1,000 development grant from Honda. Where does Brazil come in? Working with Honda and Collective, Brazil has put together a campaign to spread the word about the competition, and make sure that it reaches as many people as possible. The campaign only kicked off recently, so the really exciting stuff is still to come, but already we’ve lined up star judges from Shortlist, Stylist and New Design Magazine, as well as a fantastic competition with links to the campaign on the Sun’s website. So, if you want to see the best British makers out there – or better still, if you want to showcase your work – head over to www.facebook.com/hondamadeinbritain and take a look at what’s going on.

A day at the races...

As a massive petrol head and a fan of the Honda brand long before taking on the task of managing their lifestyle comms, news of the opportunity to visit the Team Dynamics Honda BTCC racing team had me running round like a kid who had been told he was being given the keys to a sweetshop.

However, I had to remind myself that this was actually for work purposes, so I had to look out for every intricacy and detail in the team in order to carve out the stories that would generate publicity for the team. And what detail there was – truly a comms professional’s dream.

The day started with us being driven around Silverstone’s BTCC circuit by veteran racer and 2010 runner-up, Matt Neal. The vehicle was a totally road-standard Civic Type-R - Honda’s outgoing flagship performance car that puts out 197 of their finest horses. The experience was special to say the least and really highlighted both the mind-blowing skill of the driver and the engineering excellence that Honda puts into its road going vehicles. I could have been chasing the menacing black Civic in a Ferrari with twice the power and not come close to overtaking it.

Fun over, it was time to get under the skin of the 2010 BTCC Manufacturers Championship-winning team to find those little nuggets of information that keep me in my job. And what an operation it is. Forget the mega-budget F1 teams, with hundreds of staff and flash offices – this is where true hard work and teamwork pays the biggest dividend. With just 8 permanent staff, some of whom have been there for over 15 years, the all-British Team Dynamics Honda team is one of the largest, most talented and longest serving in the pitlane. Not too dissimilar to Honda’s Civic factory in Swindon then, albeit on a smaller scale.

The similarities don’t end there. Despite sharing little in terms of actual components, the race car and road car clearly share the same ethos. Both are renowned for their bullet-proof reliability (Honda was recently voted the UK’s most reliable manufacturer in a survey of 1.5m cars in Fleet News). Both cars are also renowned for providing class-leading handling as opposed to headline power figures – and we all know the former is far more important for safe and fun real world driving than crazy horsepower.

Want to know more? Well watch this space to find out how Brazil creates exceptional publicity around an exceptional team...

Mud, mud, glorious mud...

A good hit for Honda this week – five minutes of primetime TV coverage at the top of Channel 5’s Fifth Gear. Former racing drivers Jason Plato and Tiff Needell battled it out on two Honda ATV’s, with Tiff taking the chequered flag by a whisker. Filmed on a bitingly cold day in a disused quarry in January – plenty of mud and water to contend with, but well worth the effort!


You can see the show here.