Honda and Robin Hood CEO Bring Home the Big Ones from Marketing Awards

Last night the annual NZ Marketing Magazine Marketing Awards were held at Auckland’s Langham Hotel, and if the winners opted not to drive away in a gas-guzzling limousine they could be easily forgiven.  Honda New Zealand were the big winners on the night, taking away both the Consumer Durables Award and the Fairfax Media Supreme Award. 

Honda’s marketing strategy has been lauded in these pages before, and credit is due for the uncompromising way in which they have tacked the many problems that exist with the car industry’s traditional marketing approach.  Readers regretting how their new cars depreciate so much, so fast; or who get irritated when their recently purchased car is on special at a massive discount; or who despair at the wheeling and dealing required to get a new car at a definitive price will appreciate the Honda marketing approach.

By completely re-inventing how it distributes its cars, offering its ‘one price promise’, and refusing to do special deals for fleets,  Hondas now retain their value longer than other main brands and enjoy significant customer loyalty.

The independent thinking and willingness to buck tradition was also a hallmark of last night’s other big winner, Jude Mannion, founder and CEO of the Robin Hood foundation. In naming Mannion the TNS Marketer of the Year, the judges cited her work in transforming social responsibility into a marketing benefit, substantially enhancing the area of corporate funding of the not-for-profit sector.

These two winners show that successful marketing is often outside the square – readers could do well to periodically take a step back, review their marketing, and question the extent to which their marketing activities are based upon assumptions, traditions, or the ‘conventional wisdom’ that is particular to their sector.  The more mainstream the sector, the more opportunities may lie in completely reinventing how things are done within it.

Other winners on the night included:

• The Colmar Brunton Consumer Services Award went to AMI Insurance’s re-branding.
• The bizambrands Not-For-Profit Marketing Award was the Ministry of Health for its John Kirwin-fronted national depression initiative.
• The University of Otago Emerging Business Award went to RaboPlus (a division of Rabobank New Zealand) for its 'your significant other bank' launch.
• The Smartsource FMCG Marketing Award went to Cadbury Confectionery for the launch of Cadbury Moro Gold.
• The Ubiquity New Media Marketing Award went to Marketing Impact for its Online Marketing System.
• The Malcove Innovative Research Award went to Looksy.org.
• M&C Saatchi Rookie Marketer of the Year was named as Vodafone's Daniel McCallum.

Jonathan Dodd