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It’s not often consumers receive bath sponges, salt and pepper

shakers and ice-cube moulds as part of a direct mail exercise - and it

seems even more unlikely that such items would be used to promote the

launch of a car.

But this is exactly how Honda announced the introduction of its 4x4 at

the end of May. The CR-V (compact recreational vehicle) is the first in

a series of niche market products from Honda, designed to overhaul its

image and attract a new kind of consumer.

The 4x4 off-road market has become saturated in the recent past with

Vauxhall’s Frontera, Ford’s Maverick, Land Rover’s Discovery, Suzuki’s

Vitara, the Jeep Cherokee, Nissan’s Terrano and Toyota’s RAV4.

Distinguishing yourself from the opposition has become increasingly

hard.

Extras offered in the CR-V package include a fridge, a power shower, a

built-in picnic table and a hydraulic lift. The CR-V has been introduced

to the UK on the back of successful launches in Japan - where it has

sold more than 100,000 units - and the US, where the ’sports utility’

market is more advanced than in the UK.

The through-the-line campaign was managed by CDP, which has handled

Honda’s integrated activity for some time and was overseen, on the

client side, by Alex Craddock, Honda’s brand communications manager.

As Craddock points out, the CR-V ’is a new product for a sector in which

we have never been involved and it offered a perfect opportunity to

challenge the public’s perception of the Honda brand’.

Honda certainly needed to break away from its slightly functional and

prosaic image.

Johnny Hornby, the head of account management at CDP, says his brief was

to ’present Honda as a forward-thinking company and to appeal to a

younger, more fashionable, lifestyle-conscious consumer’. The launch

utilised direct marketing, press and poster work, public relations,

sponsorship and sales promotion centred around the theme of the

’ultimate recreational vehicle’ and has focused on the added-value items

on offer. The campaign was written by Loz Simpson and art directed by

Phil Foster.

The activity began with a targeted mailing to purchasers of the CRX -

Honda’s two-seater sports coupe - and to owners of cars that Honda saw

as direct competitors. Names were drawn from the prospects database

maintained and developed by CDP and did not involve buying or renting

outside lists.

Just over 5,000 people received a staggered mailing over five days,

beginning with a bath sponge to promote the shower, salt and pepper

shakers for the picnic table, an ice-cube mould for the fridge and, on

the last day, a Ray-Ban sunglasses case redeemable with a test drive of

the CR-V.

Each item was bound with an unbranded wraparound declaring, ’something

for the glove compartment of the ultimate recreational vehicle’. Hornby

believes that ’with such a niche product, direct marketing seemed the

most obvious option - we could pinpoint a small number of quality leads

and concentrate on them.’

He says a response rate of more than 20 per cent justifies this use of

the medium. The direct mail activity was backed up by a four-day

national press campaign and also a national poster campaign promoting

the vehicle as ’the 16-valve fridge, shower and picnic table’.

To date, the campaign has cost Honda just pounds 1.2 million and has

resulted in the vehicle selling out until October. In comparison to

other car launches, this is a small outlay and the reason for this is

the innovative use of direct marketing techniques and the effort that

has been put into the related PR activity.

CDP also struck a deal with Conde Nast, and promotions offering the

Ray-Ban sunglasses in return for a test drive were featured in the June

issues of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Tatler, GQ, GQ Active and House &

Garden.

Subsequent features have appeared in the style sections of the Times,

the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Independent, Hello! and Maxim. Such

blanket coverage has been achieved largely through the use of

celebrities and socialities, most notably, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. The

CR-V also appeared in the front window of Harrods for a month, a PR

stunt guaranteed to gain attention.

Craddock appears delighted with the campaign and it has helped to draw

new customers to Honda. From a direct marketing perspective, it has been

revolutionary in that it has been one of the few times car accessories

have been highlighted in such an innovative manner and it underlines the

fact that direct marketing offers all industries a cheap, cost-effective

method through which to advertise niche market products.