Stand for Something More: The Power of Dreams

American Honda had been winning for decades on the strength of a better, more reliable product. They had always claimed a significant lead in quality ratings — it’s what their cars were known for and why they were always on the top of shoppers’ lists.

But as competitive brands fixed their quality issues, customers started to perceive most cars as being “good enough” — making differentiation on quality much more difficult to sustain. So what do you do when your main point of difference is under threat?

For Honda, the answer was simple. What set them apart wasn’t just the product attributes they had come to be known for, but something much more ownable in the long run: the company itself.

Throughout the company’s history, Honda has been driven by the Power of Dreams. Honda makes innovative vehicles that make people’s lives better. They are driven by imagination and determination.

The strategic insight was in getting back to Honda’s roots and shining a light on their history, beliefs and what they stood for. Simply put, we just needed Honda to embrace who they were and to share that story.

Honda believes in having the courage to bring imaginative ideas to life. We wanted this to be true in our marketing communications, just as it is in the products Honda sells. So we inventively brought the Power of Dreams to life across all media channels and touchpoints, including video, social, experiential — and even in Honda sales events.

Since they began rolling out Power of Dreams work in 2015, Honda has achieved some huge sales milestones. During this time, they achieved five record sales years in a row and, for a time, had the #1 SUV in America and were the #1 passenger car brand.

And they did it all while spending less per vehicle sold than the competition. That’s the Power of Dreams in action.