• by Karl Greenberg , September 19, 2012

Part of Honda's new campaign for the 2013 Accord is a partnership with NBC unit Hispanics at NBCU, around the 2012 National Council of La Raza (NCLR) ALMA Awards, a televised event honoring Latinos in entertainment.

Honda’s first-time broadcast partnership with the awards show includes auto exclusivity with NBC, Telemundo, Telemundo.com, mun2, and mun2.tv. It also involves cross-promotional on-air elements and a big digital presence to help drive tune-in and engagement in both the broadcast and digital spheres. The ALMAs, which kick off Hispanic Heritage month, air on Sept. 21 on NBC, with an encore on mun2 the following evening.

The campaign includes Honda-branded tune-in spots and biographical vignettes, or "bio-pods," profiling select ALMA nominees that will air during Telemundo’s “Un Nuevo Dia” morning show as well as its nightly news program, “Al Rojo Vivo.”

“Honda serves a vast, diverse audience, and connecting with the Hispanic audience in a more tailored way wherever they are tuning in, and in the language of their choice, is extremely important to us,” said Gina Jorge, manager of multicultural marketing at American Honda.

The sponsorship launches online with a Sept. 19 roadblock on Telemundo.com’s home page and the site’s entertainment channel home page. There will also be extended “bio-pods” on Telemundo.com that will include bonus information about the featured ALMA nominee. Honda is also running interactive polls gauging user opinion about ALMAs talent with questions such as “Which Latino performer inspires you to achieve more?”

Jorge tells Marketing Daily that the deal involves Spanish-only ads for the Accord via long-time Hispanic market AOR Orci that will run on Telemundo and NBC. "One strategy was to reach out to broadly to include bilingual Hispanic consumers. We have always considered multicultural consumers part of our core strategy. The Spanish-language spot that we have created will, on NBC, have English subtitles," she says, adding that radio spots will also air in top markets. Also, during the ALMA Awards Honda will run a 60-second Spanish-language ad that will air nowhere else.

“Honda understands the unique proposition Hispanics at NBCU brought to the table -- to reach Hispanics across all levels of language and acculturation via our Spanish-dominant outlet Telemundo, mun2 which draws young bilingual adults, and a general market channel like NBC which attracts English speakers,” said Dan Lovinger, EVP of Ad Sales for Hispanics at NBCU, in a statement.

Jorge says R.L. Polk data from last year shows Honda enjoying top loyalty among Hispanic consumers. "The fact that we are number one in loyalty speaks both to product and the history we have with them, and the relationship we have built over time. They believe in the brand and what it stands for." Honda recently launched Hispanic market advertising against the new CR-V and Civic.