Honda kick starts the campaign for its Dream Neo

With a clear objective to announce the arrival of the new mass bike from Honda’s stable, Honda launched a new TVC for its new motorbike Dream Neo. The campaign is created and designed by Dentsu Marcom. With Honda’s dream for a billion Indians, in order to stamp its presence in motorcycle segment, it has expanded its product portfolio further in the 100-110cc mass segment to get a better foothold in the entry level two-wheeler market.

Dream Neo from Honda caters to the needs of the Indian mass model riders who now aspire for an expression of individual identity believing strongly in themselves as ‘Apni Phillum ka Superstar’. They desire their dream bike to deliver best in class mileage having star features in a limited budget. As Honda has delved into the life of the semi-urban, rural consumer, they found a man who was the anchor for his family even as he battled a plethora of daily challenges and changing landscapes. They also found a man who stood out for his confidence and assurance in himself. Keeping the above approach in mind the team wanted to bring alive this dimension and his persona in full glory – something that is lost in stereotypical narratives in competitive communication.

So rather than aspire to be someone else, they decided to celebrate the protagonist as not just a star but a Superstar in his own life and in his own right.

Adgully in order to know more about the campaign spoke to some creative minds behind the campaign.

Speaking about the brief, Titus Upputuru, National Creative Director, Dentsu Marcom, said, "Dream Neo is a mass offering and the task was to go into the heartland with the offering of aggressive pricing, attractive mileage combined with the 110 cc power."

The question arises how did the idea come up? Answering that Upputuru said, "Ideas come, thank God for that. When we were considering the life of this man, the man we were talking to is full of hardships and struggle, we thought why show the mirror.  Instead we thought let us show what he could be with a little help from Dream Neo.”

Citing a personal experience  he explains, "I remember once years ago while riding a bike from Saket,  the speed and power being  impressive I said to myself “wow, this is it! ”. It was a unique feeling. Combine that with the vroom, the styling, the mileage and all the stellar features of the bike, you just can't help feeling on top of your own world. So we thought of showing the villains in our protagonist’s life and how he goes about conquering them. How they turn out to be ‘chote mote’ villians when he gets on the bike. This happens to most people when they get on the bike."

Anand Murty, VP Planning – Dentsu Marcom said, "In our visits to markets across the country, we didn’t just meet ‘consumers’ but met personalities and characters. We didn’t just hear about ‘a day in the life of’ but heard stories, accounts and carefully crafted dreams.  These accounts, these stories were told in a voice that was assuring , strong and determined to make it to the top."

"So we crafted this little story about a man, no, a Superstar and his bike. Because it’s the only story and the only voice that can resonate with him and also be a perfect vehicle for Honda’s entry into the Mass segment," Murty added further.

Speaking about the TVC, Y.S. Guleria, VP, Sales and Marketing – Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India said, "Creating a new paradigm in mass mobility, Dream Neo is Honda’s most affordable and most fuel efficient two wheeler in India. While Dream Neo is loaded with attractive and best in class features like Top Mileage of 74 kmpl, it is being delivered at a truly aggressive pricing to delight Indian customers. I am confident that the new TVC of Dream Neo will create a top of the mind recall with its out-of-the-box and local customer centric theme.” 

In terms of standing unique among others, the idea behind the TVC was to help the "the struggling man out on the street" to take the mental leap into thinking of his life as a movie in which he is the protagonist.

Upputuru says, "The way the concept is executed is unique. It's a got a great sense of style. While the subject and story is heartland but the way it is shot, edited and sound designed, it seems like a slick international film." In his opinion Digital is not the key agenda as of now for this campaign but the campaign will take the entire route covering mediums like Television, Outdoors, Print and Cinema Halls. 

The film begins with the protagonist saying, “Ye meri phillum hai aur iss phillum ka main Superstar hoon” We see him getting ready for his act. We see him donning the sun glasses and the jacket which says “Horn Ok Please”. We then see him riding on a bike through Chambal like rocky terrains. He goes on to say “Iss kahani main kayi saare villain hain, kabhi ye kabhi ye toh kabhi ye” and we see the villains in his life – “the kanjoos lala, the badnaam traffic and the zaalim raaste.”

He then goes on to say that when he gets on his Dream Neo, the stellar features of the bike, help him feel on top of the world so much so that all the villains in his life appear like small time rowdies who, if he blew on them, would fly away. We see a testimony of this when he rides past the Kanjoos lala whose vehicle is broken and the throttle of the Dream Neo causes his topi, umbrella etc. to fly away, much to the angst of the lala. Similarly we see him conquer the ‘badnaam traffic’ and ‘zaalim raaste’.

Finally we meet ‘Mrs. Superstar’. She comes down to welcome him home. When he asks her “Phillum chale?” she replies , “Apni phillum itni achchi toh auron ki kyon dekhe?” .The film ends with the tagline ‘Dream Neo, Bano apne phillum ka superstar’.

Entering a new era in India, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI), the only two-wheeler company of Honda in India is all set with its plans to aggressively expand its presence through India specific Brand Identity “Sach Kardenge Sapne” and the various new launches at India’s largest automobile event Auto Expo 2012.

Honda’s new offering – ‘Dream Neo’ will be an extension of its product portfolio in the 100-110cc mass segment.

Credits:

Client: Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd.

Creative Agency: Dentsu Marcom

National Creative Director: Titus Upputuru

Creative team: Titus Upputuru, Jitendra Kaushik

Account Management: Harjot Narang, Yuichi Toyoda, Abhinav Kaushik, Sunil Singh, Farhat Naim, Shivam Dua

Planning team: Narayan Devanathan, Anand Murty, A Sai Karthik

Films Chief: Suprotim Day

Director (of the film): Sainath Choudhry

Producer: Kanwalpreet Kaur

Production House: Purple Vishnu Films

Post production studio: Teamworks

Music credits: Sameer Uddin

Editor: Shiv Kumar Panickar