Want to know what an ad with massive impact looks like? Then check out Honda’s ‘Hands’ advert that aired in New Zealand during March and clocked up the highest impact score Colmar Brunton has seen since it began running the Ad Impact Award study in 2011.
With an impact score of 200, Colmar Brunton’s account director Harriet Dixon says the ad is pretty close to being off the chart. 
“The ad very cleverly exhibits the innovation that Honda has achieved over the years, with the full array of automobile innovations on display throughout the ad. Although it was a long advert, this hasn’t deterred consumers at all from engaging with the ad, which they found to be highly enjoyable. Many said they were likely to talk about it or share it with friends, which is certainly a good indicator that it has viral potential and that a strong buzz has been created … People love it and it could certainly be watched several times over, while still appreciating the cleverness of the ad.”
Made by Wieden + Kennedy London and directed by Smith and Foulkes, the two minute ad was launched in mid 2013 and has been watched over 12 million times on Honda’s YouTube channel. Perhaps not surprisingly, it won One Show’s Automotive TV ad of the year.
As Adweek wrote: “The two-minute spot celebrates the curious spirit that has made Honda the largest engine manufacturer and racing company in the world since its founding in 1948. And there are certainly many Honda products on display—heritage products like the 2RC143 bike; current products like the 2013 Honda TT Legends Fireblade, the HB25 leafblower, the CR-V and the Honwave T38 inflatable boat; innovative Honda technologies like the 2015 NSX concept, the FCX Clarity car, which emits nothing but water, and of course ASIMO; as well as Honda’s first production NSX from 1990, the road sports car Honda developed in collaboration with Ayrton Senna.”
Motor Industry Association figures show Honda’s sales in New Zealand have been rising slowly over the past few years, with 2,609 new passenger cars sold in 2011, compared to 3,013 in 2012 and 3,130 in 2013.
Dixon says there were were other strong contenders for the award in March, with Stihl’s ‘Save Flossie’ TVC also doing very well, and Silver Fern Farms ‘beefy’ TVC capturing plenty of attention too.
