Results and Effectiveness

Over 3,000 listeners were willing to open their homes to visitations by Honda, from which 60 were shortlisted. Honda’s entourage was the first to travel the longest distance (4,812 km) for “open house” visits, and was credited by the Malaysia Book of Records. We achieved 186% more coverage than the planned airtime, reaching over 1.8 million Malay radio listeners and garnering 2 million interactions online. More importantly, our visit to “open houses” across the country generated unprecedented buzz and excitement among the Malay communities and national media. By engaging the Malay community in such a personalized and relevant manner, Honda has now become a part of their custom, opening more doors for future programs.

Creative Execution

A practice known as "open house" is common in Malaysia during Eid ul-Fitr. Open house was for family and well-wishers to be received at home where a feast is prepared to celebrate the festivities with families and friends. We launched an activation stunt that no company in Malaysia had done before. We ran a competition on radio and online to ask our audience to submit “An Invitation to their Open House” to bring Honda to their homes. Along with a crew of top local celebrities in six Honda cars, Honda attended open houses across Malaysia during the festive period. The idea was for Honda to travel and visit as many homes possible. We upped the ante by getting The Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) to set a record for the “Longest Distance Travelled by an Entourage”. We broke this record by clocking 4,812km in distance, covering 11 states and 60 open houses in less than 48 hours.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Honda had a unique problem in Malaysia. Whilst the car was preferred by Chinese consumers, the Malays, who make up over half of the population, did not take to the brand. This racial skew in preference hindered Honda from achieving its sales potential. The good news was that awareness was not the issue. With the right kind of engagement activities, Honda would convert Malay consumers’ awareness into preference. Nothing was more symbolic of the Malay community than the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr. Honda celebrated this most important festival of the Malay community with them. By capitalizing on the practice of “open house” during this festival, we created a program that would help Honda be part of Malay people’s festivities, thereby driving up preference.