American Honda Motor Co.'s Senior Manager of Automotive Marketing Ernie Kelsey will speak about the strategies Honda uses to set the automaker apart using social video. He'll highlight case study examples including the company’s recent "Serial One" project. With Serial One, Honda is bringing new life to the first Honda automobile in the U.S.-- the VIN #001 N600 model -- and telling the unique restoration story of this hidden gem via a variety of the social channels.

1. The Video Is Social:
Honda’s Story

2. Introduction
Ernie Kelsey
Senior Manager of Regional Media and Marketing at
American Honda

3. Social Video Trends
2015
Native
(Feb)
2016
Native
(Aug)
Native
(Oct)
Live
(Feb)
(Mar)

4. Social Video Trends
• Video will account for 80% of global
Internet traffic by 2019
• Nearly 1 million minutes of video will be
shared every second
• It would take an individual 5 million years
to watch all the video that will be shared
each month
Source: Cisco Visual Networking Index:
Forecast and Methodology, 2014–2019

5. Honda’s Social Video Guidelines
• Tell stories
• Be authentic
• Evoke emotion
• Find the news hook

6. Storytelling + Brand Goals
• Recognize how branded video content fits
into your overall marketing plan
• Opportunities for engagement
• Increased awareness of brand message
• Trickle down to sales

7. The Power of
Storytelling

8. Honda + Social Video
“Paper”
54,624,204
impressions
12,864,078
views

9. Serial One
• In Two Weeks:
• 1.2 million engagements
• 81% completion rate on YouTube
• Numbers to Date:
• 5.5 million video views on
Facebook alone
• Overwhelmingly positive sentiment
• $70K+ earned media

10. Storytelling + Serial One
• One hero story supported by
ongoing, short-form content
• Consumers seek out content because:
• It’s interesting and relevant
• It’s not overly sales-like
• They’re left with a positive feeling

11. Stay True to Your Brand

12. Serial One + Authenticity
• No other OEM can share the story of
Serial One in a way that would be true
to the brand
• Factual history of Honda and the
Honda N600
• Less branded and sales-related
messaging means greater shareability

13. Evoke an Emotional
Response

14. Emotion – “Why Should I Care?”
• Consumer is forced to think about an
emotion or concern that they may
have about the content
• Emotion controls social influence –
that is whether or not a user decides to
engage
• Emotion doesn’t need to bring tears; it
can position your brand as a solution
to a problem
• Emotion causes users to pay
attention
Source: Hootsuite (Uganec, 2016)

15. Find a News Hook

16. The Power of a News Hook
• Evaluate content by its potential for earning buzz
• The hook does not need to be that your brand is
the “first” or “only”

17. Honda’s approach to social video
• We tell stories. People communicate through storytelling, and social media is a unique space in
which brands can communicate with consumers on a person-to-person level.
• We’re authentic. If your story isn’t authentic to your brand message, it will fall flat. Social media is
a transparent medium and consumers show no fear in exposing a lack of authenticity.
• We evoke emotion. Leading with why the consumer should care evokes an emotional response
from the get-go, and it’s that response that makes a consumer more or less likely to share content.
• We find the news hook. Finding a way to make your story stand out in the press will only
amplify your message and doesn’t require any additional investment.

18. Content Strategy + Targeting
• Consider how each piece of content fits into the
overall message
• Plan according to the type of content that will resonate
with each platform’s audience best and optimize!
• To have success, a brand must find the right content
mix and cadence for its unique brand and goals
• Custom-targeted, niche audiences for specific content
can lead to initial consideration of a brand

19. Final Takeaways

20. Final Takeaways
• Start with the campaign's goal
• Tell stories
• Be authentic
• Evoke emotion
• Be strategic
• Use target audiences that will find the content relevant
• Find the news hook

21. Thank you.