CREATIVE SHOWCASE

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Client: Honda
Creative Agency: RPA

It began in an integrated concept session. But unlike other "different" ideas that die in a room, this one lived. Because it had legs. Eight of them, actually.

We are of course speaking of Gil "The Crab," the standout in Honda's "Element and Friends" campaign. Originally slated as web vignettes, the commercials took on a life of their own and ran on TV. The web destination was an island where the animals lived, and unique search engine marketing helped drive the traffic to the site. It was an overall success. But that was last year.

To continue the brand momentum for the Honda Element, Honda and RPA extended the campaign with plans to replace the animals, including the crab. At that point, we felt a sense of loss and wanted to see if the public shared our sentiment. And so began the campaign to "Save The Crab."

First, Gil needed to build awareness, so we put him on MySpace in mid-July. Now the use of social networks is no marketing breakthrough. But Gil used MySpace the way users do-- he communicated through it. In fact, Gil laboriously answered all of his fan mail, sent highly coveted animated "pinches" and opened up the doors of communication. People weren't merely talking at him. They were chatting with him.

Gil wrote a blog that laced pop-culture references with product features. He entertained as he explained to over 80,600 MySpace friends.

But things went downhill, and Gil was fired. With the help of his fans, he started a petition at savethecrab.com in early August. With enough signatures, he felt he could get his job back-- a new Element TV spot that would premiere on savethecrab.com. Things were looking up, but a few weeks later Gil had another setback: he was arrested, and his mug shot appeared on The Smoking Gun.

The goal was to pre-launch the all-new trim model for the Element (the SC), create awareness of the new campaign set to launch in late September and immerse marketers and consumers in social networking as it relates to long-term communications. Many other marketers use this outlet for quick promotions, but Honda and RPA wanted to see the lasting brand effect on that audience. The metrics for this are understandably in the numbers, but moreover, we feel that the success is anecdotal, laced within the thousands of positive comments Gil and Honda have received.
-- J Barbush, interactive associate creative director, RPA

Creative Showcase is meant to be a teaching tool and an inspiration for our readers. We comment only on creative that we really love. Our panelists discuss what makes it great, but if they feel there were missed opportunities that would have made it better, we invite them to mention those. And finally, we seek out a wide range of opinions that reflect the marketplace for the panel, in order to provide constructive, useable feedback for agencies, clients and others involved in these creative pieces.

Pinch me, Gil. We have a winning campaign-- on several accounts. One: integration. The original campaign for the Honda Element utilized television, radio, the internet and print. This campaign extension takes advantage of numerous online vehicles-- from the savethecrab.com petition page to the Cafepress merchandise page to Gil's MySpace page-- linked from enthusiast and Element community sites. And in this circumstance, having a MySpace page works with the overall concept of the campaign-- an out-of-work crab looking to renew his acting gig (see my comments about the Messin' with Sasquatch website). Which brings me to two: smart use of engagement media. Just creating a MySpace page for a character so your brand is where the people are doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But using a MySpace profile to promote the signing of a petition and as part of additional efforts to extend the life of a character associated with a campaign does. Three: keeping the brand top of mind. RPA designed this campaign to bridge the gap between the original Gil-clad campaign and the new campaign debuting on Sept. 28. Getting the audience engaged with Gil succeeds in keeping them connected throughout the process.
-- Dawn Anfuso, senior editor, iMedia Connection

At first it just seemed like another quirky commercial with another animal in it. So I watched it again. And this time I chuckled. So I watched it again, and I'm glad I did, because I laughed out loud. I can see why it has some staying power on YouTube and on Google Video.

After you've stopped laughing and give it some thought, you realize that all of the animals in the Honda Element commercials speak specifically to the types of people who would buy a versatile crossover vehicle like the Element. Gil speaks to the beach goers; the rabbit gets good traction in the snow; the donkey lugs around a lot of stuff. Sometimes those agency folks really do earn their keep.

However, I'm not a big fan of the "commercialization" of MySpace. Let them sell some ads (preferably with behavioral targeting), but the creation of fake profiles, in my opinion, has gone from cool promotion to cliché pretty quickly. Yet, 82,000+ friends can't be wrong, can they? A quick comparison to the SaveTheCrab.com page shows that 19,000 signed the petition to actually "Save the Crab." Still, I'm guessing we'll be driving a Honda Element to a clam bake with crab cakes before we see another commercial with Gil.

The rest of the campaign, with the platypus, donkey and other animals all have the same quirkiness to them that makes the Gil commercials so much fun. If you don't laugh at a car asking a platypus where it learned the word "hodgepodge" or reminding an opossum to "cross the street with some urgency" so he doesn't end up in an "unenviable position on the blacktop," then you need to check your pulse to make sure you are still alive.
-- Corey Kronengold, senior marketing manager, 121Media