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Lost Boys Honda Digitas

Honda gets wannabe racers to pose for ‘speed selfies’

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By Seb Joseph, News editor

March 5, 2015 | 3 min read

Honda is asking fans to pose wearing their best race faces in a marketing stunt to generate additional buzz around its latest Civic Type R’s debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

HondaRaceface

Attendees to the annual show can visit a branded booth where they are blasted with a gust of wind to replicate the physical impact g-forces have on the face. The faster a person goes in a car the bigger the g-force and so Honda commissioned the concept, developed by DigitasLBi’s Lost Boys and BReel, to convey speed in a tangible, shareable way.

The booth is a combination of LEDs, audio playback and video capture, filming each person’s experience in slow motion, which can then be shared. Participants are asked to use the #RaceFace after trying it out with Honda looking to generate awareness ahead of the booth's arrival at events later in the year.

Claire Dunford, European social media manager at Honda Motor Europe, said: “Geneva not only provides a great opportunity for us to create buzz around our new models, but also allows us to tell our story as a brand. This clever initiative really brings to life our commitment to innovation and desire to challenge the status quo.”

Honda is hoping its reputation for innovation stands it in good stead when it returns to Formula One later this month after a seven-year hiatus. The business, which is struggling for sales in developed markets, hopes the sport can lift awareness among younger buyers.

To spur the plan, it is amassing a plethora of online and social content to push the technical prowess of its power units. Rather than bombard fans with statistics – as has become standard fare for this sort of campaign – the car marque is dramatising the technology in three spots on Honda’s F1 Racing site and partner McLaren's Facebook page.

One film shows a three ft high tesla coil system shooting out a one metre bolt of electricity, while another uses a FLIRT640 thermal camera that filmed every single variation in temperature as a signature visual pattern. Besides the fun of each spot, Honda wants them to make the science behind its cars far more accessible.

The films, developed in partnership with Lost Boys and production company Archer’s Mark, will roll out throughout the entire 2015 season, which starts later this month (15 March).

Lost Boys Honda Digitas

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