LONDON - Honda's skydiving team made history last night as they successfully spelled out their brand name in a live ad on Channel 4.
The ad, which lasted 3 minutes and 20 seconds, went smoothly and without a single hitch, as the 19 stuntmen plummeted to the Earth from 14,000 feet above sea level.
The ad, which was billed as the first live ad in modern times, was one of the most audacious attempts yet by an advertiser to create a must-see, unique media experience, in an age of personal video recorders and audience fragmentation.
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It started at 8.10pm, during a commercial break for Channel 4's cookery series 'Come Dine with Me', with a shot of the green safety light inside the aeroplane.
A series of camera angles then showed the skydivers clambering on the outside of the aeroplane, and following a signal from the team leader, they threw themselves into the air.
Within seconds they had formed the initial 'H', and 'O' soon followed. For a moment, it looked as though the 'N' was drifting apart, but the team pulled it off, before forming a 'D' as they passed through a cloud, and finally a perfect 'A'.
The ad ended with one of the skydivers revealing the message "hello mum" on his gloves, which was then followed by the campaign strapline "difficult is worth doing".
Channel 4 said the ad break drew an average of 2.2m individual viewers; it began with 2.1m viewers at 20.10pm and ended with 2.3m viewers at 20.13pm. The broadcaster estimates the audience for the ad grew by 8% during its live transmission.
The stunt was created by Channel 4's in-house creative team 4creative, with support from ad agency Wieden & Kennedy and media agency Starcom.
You can listen to reactions to the ad on last night's Richard Bacon show, on BBC Radio 5 Live, which featured Ian Armstrong, marketing manager of Honda UK, and Brand Republic's Darren Davidson.
I was impressed that nothing went wrong. however my brother thought the D was another O, and being a little stupid thought it spelled HOONA and therefore didn't quite understand the advert....
Was great - advertising as spectacle.
However the claim that it is the first live ad of recent times is wrong. Virgin Mobile ran five live ad breaks from the V Festival in 2005 to give away last minute tickets and I believe Match.com have run some too...
I was intrigued so I watched it. Given it was live with no CGI, I was impressed. Will be interesting to see viewing figures especially given the ad fell between one of the worst TV programmes currently on the box.
For comedy value it would have been better to produce the stunt in pitch black with illumines costumes as to give the impression of aliens falling to the ground, thus shocking that little town, north of Madrid. The strap line could be: "A small step for Honda - a big jump for alien mankind"
www.mattkelly.typepad.com
God you lot must live sheltered lives if you think a film about someone skydiving is "truly fantastic' Great" etc
-Dull as dishwater more like. And what happened to ads that actually make sense eh? The only thing difficult about this ad is how they managed to flog it to the client.
Brilliant idea....i think a great example of how much further brands can go with being creative and thinking outside the box.....Honda adverts just keep getting better and better
Honda have in recent years been a step ahead of, well, everyone when it has come to advert campaigns and this is yet another example of Honda breaking the norm to do something different. Though the advert itself is nothing 'special' the meer fact it was done live is, captaviting people and making people watch the advert break instead of changing channels. All in all, a massive success in my opinion.
Well I changed chanels to watch this ad (wasnt bothered about the come dine with me programme). Id heard about the ad right here and thought it was great. I agree it was nothing spectecular but just the fact that you knew you were watching it live made it quite exciting. Not sure if it will make me by Honda but my partner and I enjoyed it all the same.
'An incredible watch?'. No, it wasn't. Ever wondered why there aren't any programmes commissioned about skydiving? Because it's boring to watch, live or not. People seem to be getting confused; just because a large corporation such as Honda attach themselves to something doesn't make the ‘something’ more interesting.
not the most exciting thing, but difficult all the same and pretty impressive
i think this medium would be better suited to Red Bull with one of the many people they sponsor trying to break a world record or doing a never before performed stunt
I want to like this, and its got me talking in the office about Honda - yes we have no life. But its not quite there is it? Brilliant concept but with a little more thought it could have been genius. Its got lost in relevance. As in there is none.
I've seen more dynamic skydiving stunts on Blue Peter and yet its the first time I've ever held my breath watching an ad! It would have been easy to do something pre recorded to high energy music, quick cut, CGI enhanced but this is so much more real and fun!
not slagging the planning and stuff that went into this but it's just pap. what's the real idea behind it. spelling honda in the sky is difficult. but look we did it. so fucking what. getting home after 12 pints 4 sambucas and still sorting out the lass you pulled earlier is damn hard i can tell you but there's no bloody film crews round my house...
Probably the most exciting Ad break I can remember. I actually held my breath as they struggled to form the 'N'. A fantastic rounded campaign too with excellent pre PR coverage to support it too. Brilliant job!
The ad was promoted on Radio 4 earlier on the Today Programme pretty good PR on the BBC - the interviewee managed to get Honda as the second word and the strap line 'difficult is worth doing' in at least three times much to the amusement of the Radio 4 announcer
To give a little credit, the commentator did a pretty good job considering he was freefalling at 120mph at the time, and also co-ordinating the formations... ; )
Comments
sophie douglas - 30/05/2008
I was impressed that nothing went wrong. however my brother thought the D was another O, and being a little stupid thought it spelled HOONA and therefore didn't quite understand the advert....
johnny rambleton - 30/05/2008
Was great - advertising as spectacle. However the claim that it is the first live ad of recent times is wrong. Virgin Mobile ran five live ad breaks from the V Festival in 2005 to give away last minute tickets and I believe Match.com have run some too...
Mark Smith - 30/05/2008
The match.com + Virgin mobile ads were aired 'as live' - different to live
Andy Levis - 30/05/2008
my next car will be a honda !
Alex Creed - 30/05/2008
Rubbish. Was it it difficult? No. Was it worth doing? No.
Gavin Gordon-Rogers - 30/05/2008
Sounds truly fantastic but... who knew it was on?
johnny rambleton - 30/05/2008
match.com and Virgin had only a 30" delay. essentially live. listening to 'live' football commentary on a digital radio is hardly any different...
Mark Smith - 30/05/2008
Grumble, grumble you miserable lot. It captured the general public's imagination - how many ads can you say that about?
Jonathan Rigby - 30/05/2008
you cynical lot! I thought it was great.
Sarah Lambe - 30/05/2008
Great ad, but what's the point of doing it live if it's not publicised enough and nobody knows it's on?
Sophie Slowe - 30/05/2008
Great idea, pity the commentry is so poor and unplanned though
Matt Kelly - 30/05/2008
I was intrigued so I watched it. Given it was live with no CGI, I was impressed. Will be interesting to see viewing figures especially given the ad fell between one of the worst TV programmes currently on the box. For comedy value it would have been better to produce the stunt in pitch black with illumines costumes as to give the impression of aliens falling to the ground, thus shocking that little town, north of Madrid. The strap line could be: "A small step for Honda - a big jump for alien mankind" www.mattkelly.typepad.com
Matthew Pearce - 30/05/2008
God you lot must live sheltered lives if you think a film about someone skydiving is "truly fantastic' Great" etc -Dull as dishwater more like. And what happened to ads that actually make sense eh? The only thing difficult about this ad is how they managed to flog it to the client.
Ryan Dixon - 30/05/2008
Brilliant idea....i think a great example of how much further brands can go with being creative and thinking outside the box.....Honda adverts just keep getting better and better
Julian Esposito - 30/05/2008
Honda have in recent years been a step ahead of, well, everyone when it has come to advert campaigns and this is yet another example of Honda breaking the norm to do something different. Though the advert itself is nothing 'special' the meer fact it was done live is, captaviting people and making people watch the advert break instead of changing channels. All in all, a massive success in my opinion.
Angela Brearley - 30/05/2008
Well I changed chanels to watch this ad (wasnt bothered about the come dine with me programme). Id heard about the ad right here and thought it was great. I agree it was nothing spectecular but just the fact that you knew you were watching it live made it quite exciting. Not sure if it will make me by Honda but my partner and I enjoyed it all the same.
Angela Brearley - 30/05/2008
Buy Honda even, not by.
Sean Murricane - 30/05/2008
Totally worth it, an incredible watch.
Alex Creed - 30/05/2008
'An incredible watch?'. No, it wasn't. Ever wondered why there aren't any programmes commissioned about skydiving? Because it's boring to watch, live or not. People seem to be getting confused; just because a large corporation such as Honda attach themselves to something doesn't make the ‘something’ more interesting.
ryan mcl - 30/05/2008
not the most exciting thing, but difficult all the same and pretty impressive i think this medium would be better suited to Red Bull with one of the many people they sponsor trying to break a world record or doing a never before performed stunt
gemma Gales - 30/05/2008
I want to like this, and its got me talking in the office about Honda - yes we have no life. But its not quite there is it? Brilliant concept but with a little more thought it could have been genius. Its got lost in relevance. As in there is none.
Lucy Heather - 30/05/2008
I've seen more dynamic skydiving stunts on Blue Peter and yet its the first time I've ever held my breath watching an ad! It would have been easy to do something pre recorded to high energy music, quick cut, CGI enhanced but this is so much more real and fun!
Graeme Longstaff - 30/05/2008
not slagging the planning and stuff that went into this but it's just pap. what's the real idea behind it. spelling honda in the sky is difficult. but look we did it. so fucking what. getting home after 12 pints 4 sambucas and still sorting out the lass you pulled earlier is damn hard i can tell you but there's no bloody film crews round my house...
Zuzana Johnson - 30/05/2008
Arrghh some of you people writing here are just so misserable and negative - it's boring me
mike mathieson - 30/05/2008
Probably the most exciting Ad break I can remember. I actually held my breath as they struggled to form the 'N'. A fantastic rounded campaign too with excellent pre PR coverage to support it too. Brilliant job!
MARK FRETTEN - 01/06/2008
The plane crashed the next day
MARK FRETTEN - 01/06/2008
Here's the link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2058045/Honda-skydive-advert-plane-crashes,-kills-two.html
Emma Cottam - 01/06/2008
The ad was promoted on Radio 4 earlier on the Today Programme pretty good PR on the BBC - the interviewee managed to get Honda as the second word and the strap line 'difficult is worth doing' in at least three times much to the amusement of the Radio 4 announcer
Tim van Someren - 02/06/2008
To give a little credit, the commentator did a pretty good job considering he was freefalling at 120mph at the time, and also co-ordinating the formations... ; )