“Before you see it, you feel it,” says Honda Middle East in its newest campaign created by aka Media and Dentsu. The campaign moves away from the dramatic sand dune scenery, impactful camerawork and desert shots that are native to Dubai, instead favoring elegance, beauty and style.
Following the new vehicle across the city, the clean lines, reflections and stunning architecture create a modern, cohesive feel that fits the aesthetic the brand wanted to achieve. With fashion designer Michel Chino involved in the spot, high fashion was clearly considered in the campaign which was filmed in Dubai’s Media City. With colors interspersed within considered clothing choices, the futuristic-feeling campaign with its elegant tone spoke to Honda’s audience as the campaign took them across the city.
aka Media’s directors Zubin Mistry and Tejal Patni spoke to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani about the process of making the spot.
LBB> What was the starting point of this campaign? What did customers want to see?
Zubin & Tejal> From the very beginning when we were approached by aka Media and Dentsu to bring this style idea to life, it was very clear that we all wanted to see something very different. As we developed the treatment, it became very clear that this needed to be a high fashion film, while still keeping the HR-V in the spotlight. The client wanted to see the car as never seen before, the images had to be premium like those seen in BMW and Mercedes ads, fused together for high-end brand fashion looks
LBB> How long did it take to shoot this campaign?
Zubin & Tejal> This was shot on location over two days with two camera units.
LBB> Where did you shoot the spot and how did you find locations that fit the style of the campaign?
Zubin & Tejal> Once the story was agreed upon, it was important to find a place where we could drive the car slowly so that the models could react with HRV in a controlled environment. Also, reflections were an integral part of the views. Finding new locations in Dubai is never easy as we are always looking for something different, so location scouting was a big part of the process in pre-production and every frame was planned very carefully, even for the driving shots that we shot in Business bay. .
LBB> Fashion was definitely an integral aspect of the campaign. How did you choose the outfits you featured?
Zubin & Tejal> We decided to include one of the best fashion designers Michel Chino. His larger than life models took the visuals to new heights, it was truly a dream come true for us.
LBB> The first sight of the Honda HR-V lights coming out of the smoke is stunning. How did you decide this was the first visual and what was the editing process like?
Zubin & Tejal> For us one of the key aspects of running a car commercial is to bring a strong connection with the audience, no matter how beautiful the images are, if there is no emotion there is no connection and it ends with an editorial. of beautiful postcard images. Emotion becomes the number one aesthetic. So the secret is to unfold the story bit by bit, giving the audience a chance to use their imagination and thus involve it, hence the design of the opening sequence with the car slowly revealing itself through the fog.
The VO was integral to the film’s unfolding, almost coming as the viewer was hooked rather than spoon-fed, which is often the case in commercials. Too often we completely undermine the intelligence of the audience and we were determined not to do that in this film. The editing had to be linear for this reason so we could end on a high and leave the viewer wanting more.
LBB> The use of reflection is important within the poses. What were some of the challenges of shooting this way?
Zubin & Tejal> Reflections bring a whole new dimension to visual storytelling, especially when it comes to cars and the location we chose in Media City was a perfect fit for our scene, it’s very difficult to fake reflections and the only way to successful is when the location lends itself effortlessly. The biggest challenge is that we’re seeing things in reflections that we sometimes didn’t want to see, but were overcome by post-production cleanups and in some cases background replacements.
LBB> What aspect of the campaign was the most satisfying to see in the last installment? And why?
Zubin & Tejal> It felt like all the stars were aligned on this project. Most importantly, we had a client who took a very bold idea and embraced the end result wholeheartedly, which is somewhat rare these days. The current creativity from Dentsu was already very progressive and taking it to the next level became a very comfortable process, the aka Media team then pulled out all the stops and gave us complete freedom.
Fashion and car mash-up movies aren’t a new idea; we aimed to make a film that evokes emotions and the most satisfying thing to watch was the hair-raising that the film gave to the audience.
LBB> Tell us about some of the reactions in the country. How has the public responded?
Zubin & Tejal> The general public was shocked when they saw the film, but as filmmakers what is most important is whether the campaign worked for the client, as there is very little point in making a great film that does not sell the product. In this case, it was a success story, and Honda actually sold more HRVs than they expected, to the point that they ran out.
