SUCCESS STORY

Honda Ridgeline Adds Horsepower to its Launch

Automaker's first truck is introduced through a blitzkrieg of on- and offline advertising; Yahoo! Sponsored Search helps drive more than 200,000 interested prospects to the Ridgeline's web page

In January 2005, when American Honda Motor Co., Inc. was ready to promote the release of its all-new 247-hp, V-6 engine Ridgeline truck, the company turned to longtime advertising partner RPA to develop a comprehensive product launch strategy. In addition to creating direct mail, events, print ads, online ads and thirty-second television spots that aired during the Super Bowl, RPA structured a Sponsored Search campaign that included Yahoo! Search Marketing. The goal was to increase the association between the Honda brand and the truck category, and enable interested customers to get to the Web site for a test drive of product information that they couldn't get from other forms of advertising.

Getting Started
Although Honda had established a place for itself in the SUV market with vehicles such as the Pilot, CR-V and Element, its presence in the pickup truck market was non-existent until the release of the Ridgeline. To generate awareness of its entry into the market, it was crucial for the company to include generic truck-related phrases in its keyword mix. Additionally, RPA wanted to create a cohesiveness between offline and online efforts by working the Ridgeline tagline: "Above all, it's a Honda" into each Sponsored Search listing description.

"Just having an algorithmic listing in a high position was not enough for us," says Mike Margolin, Associate Media Director at RPA. "We tested the effect of paid search listings on our natural search referrals and found that there was a bump in natural referrals when there was a paid listing on the page. So natural isn't a replacement for the paid search listing--they work together to create a greater share of voice on the page."

Switching Gears
With the help of the Yahoo! Search Marketing Editorial team, RPA developed different buckets of keywords--some that were specifically associated with the vehicle model, some that were simply related to the truck category. As titles and descriptions were written for these keywords, RPA realized that they needed to be more responsive to users' queries. The Ridgeline tagline was not necessarily the best means of driving visitation to site, so titles and descriptions were altered accordingly.

When developing a search campaign, "It's key to respect and understand how reliant search is on other media channels," says Margolin. "Search shouldn't be done in a vacuum."

In addition to answering searchers' specific queries, RPA made a concerted effort to differentiate Honda's search listings from other automotive site listings. To maintain maximum control over the brand experience, RPA tailored messages to focus on insider details about the vehicle and bid into the top positions on search pages-so Honda's listings would be the first that people would see.

The Results
Because only 1% of automobiles are purchased online, site visitation was the primary metric used to measure campaign effectiveness. With more than 18 million impressions and over 200,000 visits to the Ridgeline page on automobiles.honda.com, the campaign greatly surpassed Honda's goals. The spike in site referrals from search engines was much larger than the lift in referrals to Honda.com generated by other forms of advertising.

Additionally, the Yahoo! Buzz Index showed a 364% increase for the Ridgeline the week after the Super Bowl. Yahoo! Search Marketing had helped Honda accelerate the distribution of its message. Looking back, Margolin lauds Sponsored Search for its speed and effectiveness: "Search really helped us to be the first to enter the market with information for this product launch."

Lessons Learned

• Search goes beyond the purchase funnel. It is a critical piece in the overall media mix and a critical support to other marketing vehicles.
• Bidding into the top three positions can help control the brand experience during new product launches.
• Leveraging a tagline in Sponsored Search listings isn't necessarily the best use of the space. It's better to write titles and descriptions that are responsive to searchers' queries.