The final creative review – Feh makes a point.

Arriving at the client's offices.

Angus and Paul waiting to go in.
Decision expected soon.

Good news, as reported in The Guardian today by Mark Sweney:

Honda has appointed creative agency Wieden & Kennedy to develop an environmental advertising plan using its £100m-plus budget across Europe and Africa

The
Japanese car manufacturer, which pulled out of formula one on Friday,
has set itself a target of becoming the automotive industry's most
environmentally friendly company by 2015.

Honda has appointed W&K Amsterdam, following a five-way pitch, to work across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia.

The
agency's first task in a wider, long-term strategy is to launch a new
hybrid car, the Honda Insight, across Europe with a major TV, press and
digital ad campaign in the new year.

W&K London, which
started working with Honda in 2002, has created a string of
award-winning TV commercials including "Cog", "Choir" and "Impossible
Dream", as well as print ads such as "Banana" and "Perfume".

The
agency was also responsible for the TV ad "Grrr", featuring an animated
eco-friendly diesel engine and the jingle "Hate something, change
something", and "Sense", which showed lights dimming and brightening as
a car drives past to dramatise a hybrid model.

"Where we want to
be by 2015 is the environmental leader. I mean that in a credible
sense, not a greenwash sense," said Chris Brown, the head of marketing
for Honda Motor Europe.

Brown said that Honda had run a
multi-region pitch for the ad account because it was the best way to
establish the company's eco-credentials in the long term across
different markets and a wide product range.

"We want to change
the conversation [about eco-ads] completely. At the moment everything
is heavy-handed, preachy and over-whelming. We want it to be positive,
optimistic, joyful, powerful," he added.

Lee Newman, managing
director of W&K Amsterdam, said: "In a lot of ways this [new
eco-marketing project] will be a continuation of what Honda has always
been about.

"In terms of capturing a spirit of the campaign we
are looking at things like the tone and character of 'Grrr' and
extending that to other products [beyond the launch of Honda Insight]".

Honda has already established a good local reputation in the UK for environmentally-themed ads.

According to Nielsen Media Research Honda spends well in excess of £100m annually on advertising across Europe and Africa.