This “Sound of Honda — Ayrton Senna 1989” ad from from Dentsu Tokyo, caught the eye of the judges at Canes Lions 2014. We look at how the video went viral, getting over 4 million views for recreating a moment of sporting history with a sound and light display.
The ad recreated a record-winning lap by the F1 driver to promote the brand’s Internavi driving navigation system and also earned the titanium Grand Prix.
Senna challenged the Japanese F1 circuit in Suzuka and managed to set a new world record. It just happened that on board was Honda’s new engine telemetry system which recorded information from the F1 car.
So Honda used that exact data, coupled with some high quality speakers and an lighting setup, to create the Sound of Honda.
In Honda’s video, there are no cars, but instead there is sound and light speeding around the track.
The viewer cannot physically see Honda’s product , but they can see and hear it’s movement, agility and smoothness around the track of Suzuka.
Cannes Lions 2014 Jury President Amir Kassei, global chief creative officer at DDB Worldwide, noted how the latter was an example of how you can create a story using technology, a “great example of how you can redefine film.”