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How to Refresh Existing TV Footage
November 15, 2005
Unicast and RPA recast a familiar 30 second spot for the Honda Ridgeline by incorporating interactivity and added graphics.
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Creative Notes
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Campaign Details
Client: Honda
Creative Agency: RPA
Technology Vendor: Unicast
Campaign Insight
Honda was interested in promoting the Honda Ridgeline leveraging a variety of creative formats. The goals were to increase awareness and encourage consumers to engage with the core features of the new Honda truck. Honda has utilized the Unicast Transitional ad format for previous vehicle launches and believed that by leveraging multiple formats, including Unicast Pre-Roll and In-Page, they could simultaneously extend the reach of the campaign and increase purchase intent.

The process for creating these executions was simple using Unicast's services. RPA submitted a set of creative assets, and Unicast converted the video and Flash to work seamlessly within each of the selected formats. 

The creative is running on over more than 20 publishers, yielding above-average response rates. The campaign runs through December.
-- Larry Allen, general manager, Unicast

Editor's Note
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.
The Panel
RPA’s Honda Ridgeline Transitional does an admirable job of using existing video in a broadband execution that goes miles beyond the simple repurposing of TV as a streaming ad. RPA’s work demonstrates that rather than always playing second fiddle, online can realize its potential to be a much more powerful medium than TV. The video looks terrific. It’s every bit as good as television, making obvious the added value provided by the interactivity. The piece says “Look at me! I can do everything TV can do, plus…”

With masculine touches like the rock/metallic/wood UI and the authoritatively booming base in the voiceover, the creative succeeds in presenting Honda trucks as being every bit as "truck" as a Ford or Chevy. I was impressed with how well the Flash and video worked together visually to extend the experience. What I would have liked to have seen was more in-depth information in the interactive portion. It seems like an opportunity was missed to present the "guy target" with all the facts and stats they crave when shopping for a new vehicle.

It will be great when the experience becomes even more seamless, allowing you to navigate through full motion video, rather than have a video segment and an interactive segment. Given the tools available today, I think RPA has come as close as possible to allowing the viewer to jump right inside and play around in a TV spot. Cool.
-- Patrick V. Barrett, managing partner, Gamut Industries, LLC

I first saw the Ridgeline campaign on TV and was intrigued by the peaks in the clouds concept -- very inviting and giving the viewer that "truck that'll go anywhere" feeling. Naturally, Honda wants to separate itself from the mid-size luxury touring sedan image it has gained over the years, but the eventual lunar landscape and slo-mo sexy jumping of the truck in the opening video, which appears to be the commercial from TV, are nothing new. Standard fare for a truck spot. Only the fact that this truck is a Honda keeps you watching.

After the video, as the peaks sit there waiting for you to click on them, the soft random motion of clouds is pleasant enough, and the mouseover of the peaks, lighting them up, suggest something big is coming. I was expecting more than an in-page pop-up made to look like a piece of paper tacked to a piece of wood flying out of the bed of the truck. I found the images within the pop-ups to be a little flat and dull, with very little information accompanying them.

I suppose the real shock of this campaign is "Wow -- Honda has a truck!" After a great build up, I was a little let down by the interactive portion of this ad.
-- Dave Wilkie, creative director, Kinetic Results

Footnote: Submissions are judged by a panel of industry experts from and based on the following criteria: how the creative captures the specific customer; how it meets the brand's business needs; impact of execution; and creativity. If you would like your creative considered for Creative Showcase, send an email to creative@imediaconnection.com.