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Regional Honda Dealers

Driving home a community-first approach.

Results Summary

After partnering with St. Gregory, Honda continuously ranked No. 1 in market share compared to other automotive brands.

The Challenge

The automotive industry depends heavily on mass media, but what if your competitors have larger marketing budgets? Because Honda couldn’t outspend its competition, we had to think of new ways to help them outperform their market.

With a combination of compelling creative, strategic media placements, and an emphasis on community involvement, we brought Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Honda Dealers and Central Indiana Honda Dealers to a continuous No. 1 rank in market share compared to other brands.

Here’s how we kept Honda as a top choice for those looking to buy a vehicle.

The Approach

We prioritized smart media placement and engaging creative, but the secret sauce was developing a comprehensive community engagement strategy, too. This looked like partnering with local institutions like hospitals, museums, zoos, arts and theatre venues, consumer shows, food pantries and universities. 

With these partnerships, we didn’t simply write a check and put the Honda logo on some signage or program guide. Instead, we developed opportunities for Honda to engage with people on a much more personal level, including:

  • Being on-site at events like the Cincinnati Children’s Walk for Kids, the hospital’s single largest fundraising event of the year, which brings in upwards of $1 million. Honda staff helped hand out 3,000+ medals at the finish line and talked to families who were positively impacted by the hospital.
     
  • At the Cincinnati Baby Expo, we filled a Honda Odyssey with baby food pouches and asked participants to guess how many containers were in the vehicle. The person who guessed correctly won a grand prize, and we donated the baby food to the Freestore Foodbank after the event. (Wondering how much baby food it takes to fill a Honda Odyssey? 476 boxes, or 2,640 pouches.)
     
  • For the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, Honda donated a brand-new vehicle to St. Jude to include in the $1 million+ fundraiser, with all proceeds going to St. Jude.
     
  • At the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, Honda helped sponsor the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience®, a new, permanent addition to the museum complex with 12 outdoor sports experiences and 3 indoor exhibits. 
Honda Community Making a Difference

We also had Honda sponsor new exhibits at the Cincinnati Zoo, facilitate toy drives in partnership with Cincinnati Children’s, and partner with the University of Cincinnati—both as a sponsor and to provide unique experiences for kids and families. 

Community-driven gains and accolades.

The Result

Honda continuously ranked No. 1 in market share compared to other automotive brands. Our markets and zones not only consistently beat our competition, but also outperformed other Honda groups in other markets.