Advertising: New Honda Civic ad by W+K London.

You can never miss the VO, which I think is the same person who did all other Honda UK ads. Because I can still remember him saying something to the like of, "Isn't it nice, when things just... work?" in the Honda Cog commercial. He's got a certain tone of 'stability' that's missing in others, which I can't really explain but I do hope you feel it too.

Really like that line: Everything we do goes into everything we do. I bet many from the client side and the industry (even within the agency) will use this to challenge local norms of advertising. I don't have to wait, I can already imagine 'frustrated' agency/client person asking me, "Why can't we do something like that in Malaysia?"

Well, I think the answer is simple. Brand standards, cultural norms and message take-out behavior. What a car represents in a certain market will determine what we should do best. While I won't say which creative works but by identifying what value a car badge holds will determine how the vehicle should be portrayed. Focus on the thinking, less on the car? Or focus on the car, less on the thinking? Combination of both?


Or just plain... slapstick entertainment?



Malaysia is a special place which is why campaigns like 'Drive every drop' didn't work although I thought it was cool, smart and would have died to be part of the conception (even as a hairline fraction of the production team). But it just didn't work here for many cultural differences which I shall not mention here (sorry, the research was not commissioned by me) and vehicles here cost at least 3 times more than what they are worth elsewhere. So there. I think I have a pretty valid answer (till challenged, obviously) but I totally get where these agency/client people are coming from. Because fact is, I was once one of them.

And maybe sometimes I still am.