Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

For the motorcycle industry, a test ride is always a crucial point that determines the decision to purchase. However, enduro riders were never given the opportunity to test ride on real enduro trails before. With “Off Grid Showroom”, Honda was able to offer both a genuine test ride experience for enduro riders and a familiarity of the showroom visit, equipped with informative sales staff and facilities.

Background

Honda wanted to launch “The All New CRF300”, the new enduro motorcycle packed with special features that perform best on off-road trails. How do we get our target audience to truly understand the capability of our motorcycles when all of our showrooms are located in the city and test rides can only be done on flat concrete roads?

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Thai Honda presents the “Off Grid Showroom”: turning a mountain into a showroom only made for All New CRF300. We brought everything a showroom should have such as the product display, reception area, office tables, chairs, water dispenser, merchandise shelves, restroom, sales staff and placed them across the mountain. Then we promoted the “Off Grid Showroom” along with the map on social media. Consumers who visited were able to test ride our motorcycles on real enduro trails while making their way around the showroom.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Enduro riders usually have more concern when it comes to test rides, because enduro motorcycles have unique features that must be tested out in the real enduro environment in order for riders to see their real performance. Therefore, in order to launch the All New CRF300, we turned a mountain into a showroom and got our target audiences to experience how our motorcycles can perform during real usage, which in the end, will boost their decision to purchase and leave good impressions towards Honda as a brand that truly understands its customers’ needs.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

We brought the whole experience of walking into a showroom, being greeted by the sales staff, checking out the motorcycles, and test riding and situated it right on a mountain. We made sure to bring every element of a showroom, including office supplies, reception areas, restrooms, food & beverage bar, and merchandise shelves people can shop from. Most importantly, this special branch gave the most genuine experience for our enduro riders to test our motorcycles on the real enduro trails, with dirt, running streams, and all the dust they love.

List the results (30% of vote)

“Off Grid Showroom” achieved more than we expected in terms of sales and PR values. 97% of riders who visited the showroom made a deal to buy the All New CRF300, which became a new record for our enduro motorcycles with an increase of 73% in sales during the launch of a new model. Enduro riders also helped us create the buzz for the campaign by sharing either their experiences at the showroom or how much they would like to visit, which gave us more than 13M impressions without any cost. To top it off, we gained new interests for enduro motorcycles by having a wider range of target groups come and test ride with us.