by Erin Baker
‘A great example of how to stand out from the crowd’ – that was the verdict on Honda’s fun and innovative stand at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. It’s a huge marketing challenge to stand apart from the host of global manufacturers at the festival, and do something that not only captures the imagination of visitors to the show, but raises a smile too.
The world’s biggest motorsport party
It was always Lord March’s intention to make the Festival of Speed the world’s biggest motorsport garden party, but some stands are guilty of favouring a corporate spirit over an engaging one. Not Honda, which was chosen as the winning brand activation by Event magazine.
Sitting on the prestigious first row trackside, the stand took the theme of a toy car collection, with over-sized boxes containing life-size cars. As well as showcasing the cars, each box offered a unique experience once inside, as well as the chance to win related prizes. For example, the Jazz box focused around shopping, and visitors could win a shopping spree at Selfridges.
It really was smart thinking but, behind the fun, the eye-catching display housed some serious models in its 2015 line-up, from the Civic Type R, new HR-V and Jazz, to the UK debut of the NSX supercar.
Why the toy car theme? One in five UK adults (22%) admit to still playing with toy cars, even when the children aren’t around, according to new research of more than 2,000 adults, commissioned by Honda UK on the eve of the festival. Peter Jenkinson, founder of ‘Toyology’, told Honda: “We love toy cars as kids both big and small; they’re aspirational when you are young and still so when you have kids of your own. They look great displayed on shelves at home and of course they’re superb playthings to role play with and create stories. It is hardly surprising that almost a quarter of us still get excited about buying a toy car as an adult.”
So toy cars in many ways express the spirit of the whole festival. Proper thinking outside the box by Honda.
The Moving Motor Show
And what of the real metal at the Festival? The event kicks off every year with the Moving Motor Show, which is rapidly becoming the default British motor show. Lucky visitors this year got to experience a passenger lap in the new Type R hot hatch (piloted by racing drivers as well as the car’s new ambassador, Ricky Wilson, of Kaiser Chiefs fame), as well as the chance to drive the new CR-V and Civic Sport on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Blast from the past
From the Friday, when the festival kicked off properly, Honda ran the new Type R up the hill in the First Glance category; a perfect fit for the year’s Flat-out and Fearless theme. The pocket rocket has already set a Nurburgring lap time, and the festival was the perfect setting to showcase the 306bhp ahead of its on-sale date.
A blast from Honda’s past flew up the hill shortly after the Type R, in the form of the RA272 historic F1 race car which won the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, marking 50 years since Honda first won a Grand Prix. It was followed by the McLaren-Honda MP4/4 which won all but one race in the 1988 season.
Start them young
On two wheels, Honda marked the 30th anniversary of Freddie Spencer’s legendary season when he was crowned 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix champion, by reuniting him with some of his machinery. Alongside the historic racer, Casey Stoner, two-time MotoGP champion took to the hill.
Another huge brand statement to reflect Honda’s dominance in bike racing, came in the form of Jenny Tinmouth, the only female British superbike racer, who made her Goodwood debut on a BSB CBR1000RR Fireblade, a serious piece of kit. She was joined by another legend, and fellow TT lap holder, John McGuinness, on his TT legends bike.
In a nod to the truth that everyone’s got to start somewhere, Honda also provided hands-on motorcycling tuition for children aged 5 to 11 with the Honda My First Licence experience, which provided a little taste of motocross under the expert tuition of Dave Thorpe and the off-road experience team.
Philip Crossman, Managing Director at Honda, said, “Honda as a brand has a strong racing heritage and Goodwood is the perfect setting for that. It’s not just road cars and bikes [that raced] up the famous hill; we’ve got the car that won our first ever F1 grand prix, the most successful car in F1 history and one of the most successful GP bikes ever.”
What a year for Honda to show off its heritage and hardware at Goodwood, and what a way to do it.
