Honda Automobiles: One Direction TV Spot for 2016 Civic Heralds Next Wave of Honda Stage, Honda Stage Brings More Original Music Programming, Expanded List of Digital and Live Music Experiences

  • Civic and Accord are industry’s top-selling models to millennials
  • Top-tier media content and technology partners extend Honda Stage relationship – iHeartMedia, Live Nation, REVOLT, Vevo, Woven Digital and YouTube
  • New for 2016; digital series features emerging musicians distributed on Facebook, Vevo, YouTube and Uproxx.com

Honda is turning up the volume on its innovative Honda Stage (www.youtube.com/HondaStage) platform with a focus on a diverse portfolio of music, increased integration with broadcast media programming, and more engaging content.

Today, as part of the Honda Stage platform, Honda showcased the debut of a new television spot featuring One Direction, the stars of the 2015 Honda Civic Tour, (http://honda.us/1DHonda). The light-hearted commercial celebrates the launch of the completely reimagined 2016 Honda Civic Sedan, the most ambitious and sporty remake of Civic in its 43-year history. The commercial debut coincides with the release of One Direction’s highly anticipated 5th album, Made In The A.M., out November 13.

“Honda Stage has enabled us to join forces with one of the most popular music groups in the world, One Direction, to help launch our all-new 10th-Generation Civic to a new generation of buyers,” said Tom Peyton, assistant vice president of Advertising and Marketing for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Honda Stage really is the culmination of our deep rooted history in music, starting with Civic Tour 15 years ago, and now comes full circle with a fun brand campaign introducing the exciting 2016 Civic.”

Honda also announced that the “always on” Honda Stage music program is extending its relationships with the top-tier partners who helped make it happen from the beginning – iHeartMedia, Live Nation, REVOLT, Vevo and YouTube. Honda also continues the highly regarded Honda Civic Tour and maintains its partnerships with the nation’s premier music festivals, which will continue to lend new energy and excitement to the Honda Stage platform.

“Honda Stage is truly uncharted territory for a music platform of this scale, not only creating new content, but collaborating with our strong partner network to connect our fans with the artists they love,” said Peyton. “As we continue on this exciting journey, we look to deliver more innovative programs that will engage new audiences with Honda Stage.”             
           
New to Honda Stage
Honda Stage is extending its relationship with the program’s original all-star cast of production, promotion and technology partners to release even more music content, with a diverse portfolio of music for its fans and further integration with broadcast media programming. This includes Honda Stage’s collaboration with the NHL on NBC and College Football on ESPN.

Honda will also go beyond just music performances and connect with music fans through Uncharted: Power of Dreams, a new original digital series airing on Facebook, Vevo, YouTube, and UPROXX.com, that spotlights undiscovered and emerging artists and the stories behind their musical pursuits as they strive for their dreams. The series features artists from a wide array of genres including LA-based hip-hop artist A.F.R.O., the buzzworthy Kansas City mother-son duo of Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, and renowned producer Boots. The 10-episode series is a collaboration between Honda and Woven Digital with episodes airing monthly. Interested fans can tune in to http://uproxx.com/topic/uncharted/ to watch new and on-demand episodes of Uncharted: Power of Dreams.

Building upon Honda and iHeartMedia’s partnership, Honda has deepened their relationship with iHeartMedia with a Honda Stage integration at the iHeartRadio Summer Pool Party and a deeper, more robust content partnership that includes the iHeartRadio Theater and other programs throughout the year.

Honda Civic Tour and 2016 Festivals
Produced by Marketing Factory and now in its 14th iteration, Honda Civic Tour has become a cornerstone of the Honda Stage platform. In 2015, Civic Tour presented One Direction, its biggest campaign ever with total attendance near 700,000 U.S. fans.

Continuing a Civic Tour tradition, a 2015 Honda Civic, exclusively customized and autographed by One Direction, was prominently displayed on the floor of each of the 17 stadium dates. Fans can still enter for a chance to win the 1D custom Civic through December 31, 2015. Complete sweepstakes rules and entry is online at www.HondaCivicTour.com.       

Honda Stage will continue to have prominent stages at some of the nation’s most respected music festivals in 2016, including Governors Ball in New York in June, Music Midtown Atlanta in September, and Austin City Limits Music Festival in October. In 2015 Honda Stage at music festivals featured performances by some of music’s biggest artists, 41 live performances including headline sets from Disclosure, Lana Del Rey, Lenny Kravitz, My Morning Jacket and The Weeknd. At each fest Honda also featured vehicle displays as art within a fan-centric autograph tent where festival attendees met and interacted directly with 69 performing artists in 2015.

Advancing Honda Brand Relationship with Younger Buyers
During the past five years, Honda has led the industry in sales to under-35 buyers in the passenger car, SUV and minivan segments. Further, the popular Honda Civic and Accord are the two top-selling models to under-35 buyers across the entire automotive industry, while the Honda CR-V and Odyssey attract more millennials than any other SUV or minivan on the market today1.

Honda Stage is one element of Honda’s effort to advance its relationship with the next generation of “young buyers.” Through Honda Stage’s diverse array of music content and live events, Honda is directly engaging millennials with sporty, fun and efficient models like the Honda Fit, the all-new 2016 HR-V crossover and, soon, an epic new 2016 Honda Civic lineup, starting with the launch of the 2016 Civic Sedan.

About Honda Stage
Building on its deep foundation of bringing music to fans, American Honda has brought together an unprecedented group of entertainment and technology leaders, including Live Nation, iHeartMedia, REVOLT, Woven Digital, YouTube and Vevo to produce and distribute some of the best original, high-quality music content available. Honda Stage is a unique combination of live events and exclusive online content, and offers music fans access to custom live and online music programming and performances, behind-the-scenes content, artist interviews and more. (For more go to www.YouTube.com/HondaStage .

About Honda
Honda offers a complete line-up of Honda cars, trucks and service through a network of more than 1,000 Honda dealerships within the United States. Eight Honda auto plants in North America, including four in the U.S., have the capacity to produce 1.92 million automobiles each year2. In 2014, more than 97 percent of the Honda and Acura automobiles sold in the U.S. were produced in North America.

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1.Based on IHS Automotive, Polk new US retail vehicle registration for passenger car, SUV and CUV, and minivan segments and age of head of household data for each individual year and cumulatively CY2010-2015CYTD June

2. Honda products are produced using domestic and globally sourced parts.