Honda is a brand that truly believes in the power of dreams. This isn’t simply a bullet point. It’s the DNA of the company. Soichiro Honda started his dream on two wheels. Six decades later, it continues on two wings.

This film illustrates an abridged narrative of Honda’s incredible history and demonstrates the vast range of Honda products using an engineer’s most reliable tool: paper. Using stop-motion animation, the film takes you on a journey through six decades of Honda innovation as animators flip thousands of hand-drawn illustrations. All to demonstrate how Honda is a company powered by dreams, and show a side of the brand many people haven’t seen.

We shot the stop-motion in-camera using multiple illustrators and animators who drew thousands of illustrations during a lengthy 4-month production. The collaborative nature of the film, with multiple animators representing Honda engineers working together to flip through Honda’s history, was a meta-representation of how Honda collaborates on any idea or new product. The various stocks of paper were chosen to reflect the time-period of the product itself. As we moved through time in Honda’s history, the animation style and paper stock chosen became more modern.

The entire film was shot practically, with animators manipulating their hands and flipping thousands of unique illustrations one frame at a time. We also included anamorphic drawings later in the film that can only be seen by one particular angle of the camera, in order to bring life to these optical illusions.

The work successfully got attention for the brand, with views surpassing expectations and high engagement.

Social results:

• 13.3MM views (with 12.9MM views within the first two weeks)

• 54.6MM social impressions

• 841K social engagements

• Social sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, with most discussions centered around both the execution and Honda being creative, innovative, surprising and attention-getting.

Ace Metrix results:

• It was the most Visually Appealing brand image ad of the year

• The video received an Ace Score of +34 points above the automotive brand image norm

• Source: Ace Metrix, Sept 2015

As a mass brand that sells products to people of all ages, genders and incomes, our target was a broad audience – the hearts and minds of non-luxury auto shoppers who fit the Honda mindset.

No other car company could tell this story because no other brand is as innovative in so many different categories and industries. Our challenge was to create a film that demonstrated this, that felt and looked different from anything else in the category right now. It needed to feel like an extension of Honda and make viewers’ brains tingle.

The 2-minute spot aired on primetime TV and found an even bigger audience online. We used native video players to post on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Google Plus. We posted :15 teasers on Instagram and :06 teasers on Vine, all driving viewers to the full video.

Honda had been selling its products, not its brand. Our goal was to get people to emotionally connect with Honda again, and have them see Honda as a creative, innovative company instead of just another car manufacturer. We needed to tell the story of Honda’s philosophy and what those beliefs have led to over time, in a way that demonstrated the brand’s way of thinking.

Our production budget was $1.3MM. This global spot initially launched on YouTube and Sunday Football on NBC in its 2-minute entirety. We reached 13.3MM views online (with 12.9MM views within the first two weeks). Due to its success, the ad was also picked up internationally and ran in South America, Italy and Korea.