American Honda Announces New Advertising Structure for Automobile Business

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Mar 18, 2013, 07:32 ET

TORRANCE, Calif., March 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- American Honda Motor Co., Inc. today announced that its comprehensive review of advertising creative and media accounts for its automobile business has resulted in a multi-agency approach for the company's Honda and Acura brands. MediaVest was selected as the media agency serving both brands, with RPA selected as the creative agency for the Honda automobile brand and Mullen as the creative agency for the Acura brand.

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The agency assignments, the result of a nearly three-month long selection process, reflect a major change in strategies for Honda and Acura advertising. The new multi-agency structure will place American Honda at the hub of a collaborative team of agencies, with the focus on heightened creativity, greater efficiency and long-term strategic planning. RPA, Mullen and MediaVest together with Muse Communications and Orci, which retain the multicultural assignments, will report directly to American Honda rather than through a single agency.

"We are creating a new and highly collaborative path forward that will yield outstanding creative and enable us to focus more of our marketing investment on communicating with our customers," said Michael Accavitti, vice president of National Marketing Operations. "We are confident that our new team of agencies will create dynamic marketing campaigns that connect and engage consumers with our products and our brands, while achieving an even higher level of efficiency and effectiveness."

Each agency will have dedicated workspace at American Honda headquarters in Torrance, Calif. where agency personnel can better serve the needs of each brand by collaborating together and with the Honda and Acura teams. In addition, Mullen and MediaVest will be opening or expanding dedicated offices in Southern California. RPA, Muse and Orci are headquartered in Southern California.

MediaVest's role as the separate media agency is expected to result in more sophisticated targeting of the media mix, with a significant improvement in media buying efficiency. "Getting smarter about how we communicate was a critical goal of this process and even with the same level of investment we expect to realize more efficient and targeted media plans, which will increase the amount of money we spend on reaching our customers," said Accavitti.

From the standpoint of creative agencies, the new structure will enable RPA, Mullen, Muse and Orci to maintain a special focus on the unique needs of each brand at a time when both Honda and Acura have strong momentum with a number of all-new products just introduced or soon coming to market. "With Honda and Acura rolling out incredibly strong new products we think each agency will have a lot of good material to take our creative to the next level," said Accavitti.

Honda has an award-winning lineup of new or substantially refreshed models, including the just-introduced 2013 Honda Accord and Civic and a lineup of light trucks led by CR-V, America's top-selling SUV, and the Honda Odyssey. In 2014, Honda has announced plans to greatly expand small car sales with an all-new Honda Fit and a new model based on the Urban SUV Compact revealed at the North American International Auto Show in January 2013.

Acura is in the midst of the complete makeover of its product lineup. In 2012, the brand launched two new gateway Acura models with a redesigned RDX, which has since enjoyed 10 consecutive months of record sales, and the new ILX entry-luxury sedan. For 2013, the all-new 2014 RLX flagship sedan went on sale March 15, with an all-new 2014 MDX coming to market by mid-year. Acura has also announced plans for the introduction of the next generation of the Acura NSX supercar in about two years.

About Honda

Honda offers a complete lineup of cars and trucks through a network of more than 1,000 dealerships in the United States. In 2013, Honda marks 40 years of the Civic model, with more than 30 years of producing automobiles in the region, which began with the Accord in Marysville, Ohio in November 1982. Having produced more than 25 million vehicles in North America through 2012 using domestic and globally sourced parts, Honda currently operates 14 major manufacturing facilities in North America, producing a wide range of Honda automobiles, all-terrain vehicles, power equipment products, engines and transmissions.

About Acura

Acura offers a full line of technologically advanced performance luxury vehicles through a network of 272 dealers within the United States. The Acura lineup features seven distinctive models including the TL performance luxury sedan, the TSX Sport Wagon and sedan, the ILX compact luxury sedan, the RDX luxury crossover SUV, the MDX luxury sport utility vehicle, the ZDX four-door sports coupe, and the all-new Acura RLX flagship sedan.

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