Honda Connects Fans to Honda Fans On Facebook

The initial page asks users to join the social experiment and become a fan of Honda and vehicles like Insight, Fit and Accord Crosstour. The company says Honda’s nine other vehicles will have fan pages “in the near future.” Once users are fans, they can see a web of connections to various friends of theirs who have also signed on, rather like LinkedIn. They can also see the global chain of connections based on country, per Honda.

The company says early participants in the social experiment may also be chosen to appear in a national TV spot for this significant Honda Brand campaign, set to launch in early October.

“Research and focus groups have revealed over and over again that whenever you talk about Honda, the typical reaction is something like, ‘My aunt Mary has a 1998 Honda Civic that she loves to death. She’ll never get rid of it!'” Jenny Howell, Manager of Interactive Marketing, American Honda Motor Co., tells Marketing Daily.

“Honda appreciates that there is a world of Honda lovers out there. Everyone knows someone who loves a Honda. Facebook seemed like the best place to create those connections since it’s the place where people already go to connect.”

Howell says Honda has some vehicle specific-fan pages (Insight, Fit and Accord Crosstour) already, and also executed a few different campaigns for the Honda Fit including a gift campaign, and the Fit Fight game. And there is currently is a “What Can You Fit in Your Fit” contest at www.facebook.com/hondafit. But, says Howell, “this social experiment application marks the first official Honda Facebook page for the brand.”

She says the Honda Facebook social experiment is the first chapter of the Honda Brand campaign set to launch in early October. The campaign will include a media mix of TV, interactive and print.
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