Honda takes modular approach to Winter Olympics campaign creative

• Honda is drawing parallels between high-performance athletes and engineering ingenuity for its first campaign because the official automotive partner of Team USA, according to a press release. 
• “This is The Power of Dreams” is anchored around 10 Olympic and Paralympic athlete ambassadors, flipping between them playing their respective sports and Honda constructing and testing its vehicles. The campaign is led by two 60-second TV spots, with the creative set to premiere during NBC’s Opening Ceremony.
• The effort is designed to be modular, allowing Honda to mix and match creative assets for various channels and incorporate same-day footage into certain TV ads. The brand may even enact Roku takeovers during key Team USA hockey games and deploy first-arrival ads on Peacock for men’s hockey programming. 

Honda’s debut campaign because the official automotive partner of Team USA weds elite athleticism with vehicular innovation. The brand is getting more mileage out of its creative through what it described as a modular strategy that can see it mix and match footage of athlete ambassadors, Honda engineers and products based on the needs of various media channels and verticals. 

The modular approach, which Honda said is exclusive to Olympic rings-holder sponsors, may even allow the brand to use same-day footage of Team USA athletes competing in select cuts of its TV spots, giving the commercials more real-time relevance and the prospect to showcase highlights from the Winter Games in Milano Cortina.    

Honda’s two lead spots, “Ideas Into Action” and “A Flawless Performance,” will appear in 60-, 30-, 15- and 6-second cutdowns across broadcast, streaming and digital platforms at some point of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. In addition, the automaker is promoting the campaign during nationally broadcast NBA and NHL programming and the NFL’s AFC and NFC championship matchups on Jan. 25. On its social channels, Honda will highlight the person stories of athletes included in “This is The Power of Dreams” and tap into “fun social trends,” per the discharge. 

Honda’s Team USA athlete ambassadors are: ice hockey player Kendall Coyne Schofield; para alpine skier Audrey Crowley; sled hockey players Declan Farmer and Brody Roybal; figure skaters Ilia Malinin, Madison Chock and Evan Bates; speedskater Jordan Stolz; para snowboarder Brenna Huckaby and bobsledder Kaysha Love. The campaign also features two Team Honda drivers, Kyle Kirkwood and Dai Yoshihara, and vehicle offerings reminiscent of the Honda Prelude hybrid, Honda Passport TrailSport and yet-to-be-released Honda 0 Series Saloon electric-vehicle model. 

“This is The Power of Dreams” has separate creative running for Honda’s Powersports, Power Equipment and Marine product lines, as well. The campaign expands Honda’s work across the Olympics, with the marketer having an almost two-decade partnership with USA Hockey and its Acura brand serving as a sponsor of the USA Bobsled and Skeleton teams through the 2030 Winter Olympic Games. Honda can also be among the many first naming-rights partners of the LA28 Olympics.