A new interactive online film from Honda launches on 30th October, bringing to life the brand’s ‘other side’ ahead of the hotly-anticipated launch of the new Civic Type R in 2015.

Honda is renowned for its reputation of engineering excellence, technology and reliability. But it’s the brand’s other side, born from a racing heritage and thirst for innovation, which this campaign heroes.

During 2015 Honda will launch the all-new Civic Type R – promising to be the most extreme and high-performing model to wear the famous ‘Red H’ badge – perfectly embodying this other side of the marque. As the film asserts, Type R is the wild child alter-ego of the Civic hatchback that customers know and trust.

The Other Side aims to bring to life these two sides of Honda by putting fans at the heart of a high-adrenaline dual narrative. The story unfolds in two parallel tales, one set during the day and the other at night. The daytime story sees a father picking his daughter up from school in his white Civic and driving her to a surprise party.

By contrast the night-time narrative shows the father’s other side – an undercover cop driving a crew of art thieves to a police sting, in a head-turning red Type R. While very different in tone, the two stories mirror each other perfectly in their composition.

The Other Side opens with the Civic in the daytime, with titles prompting interaction as they roll. From here the viewer can switch between the Civic and the Type R narrative, simply by pressing the ‘R’ button on their keyboard. The effect is dramatic and heart-racing, a big enjoyable gear shift between stories echoing the sensation of pressing the new Type R’s ‘R’ button to activate ‘Race Mode’.

A press of the ‘R’ key puts the director’s cut into the viewers’ hands, allowing them to switch in real time between two mirrored story lines. Through sound design and seamlessly matched scenes, you can’t help but feel the power of Honda’s other side.

The Other Side launches on YouTube on October 30th, kicking off a pan-European campaign set to continue through 2015. See the interactive experience here: hondatheotherside.com. View the trailer here: http://youtu.be/7ov6Zq_bp6c.

Martin Moll, Honda Motor Europe’s Head of Marketing, says, “This campaign marks a very significant time for our brand. The Civic Type R is one of four new car launches for Honda in 2015 and provides a powerful halo-effect for the marque. Just as our products are renowned for being innovative, our communications style will amplify this. By way of example, we are not aware of anyone else creating interactive user content in the same dramatic way, which should give it a very strong appeal.” 

Honda UK spearheaded the campaign, investing in large-scale media support across TV, digital and social channels throughout November. The campaign kicked off with a launch event for journalists and influencers, allowing them to discover Honda’s other side for themselves in personal interactive cinema booths and get up close and personal with the Type R Concept car.

The Other Side was shot by acclaimed director Daniel Wolfe, the creative force behind award-winning commercials, music videos and the recent Cannes Film Festival highlight ‘Catch Me Daddy’. Music was scored by Bobby Krlic of The Haxan Cloak, and the interactive experience was developed with the expertise of production agency Stinkdigital Scott Dungate, Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy London, says, “The beauty of this idea is in the simplicity of the interaction. The simple act of pressing ‘R’ empowers the viewer to drive the film, toggling between the two stories. It’s very satisfying and addictive jumping from the Civic day world to the high octane night world of the Type R. It’s like going into race mode, and putting your foot down. You get a sense of power and excitement. Through this we hope people will feel Honda’s other side as well as see it.”

Daniel Wolfe, Director at Somesuch says: “I love this idea, the raw simplicity of just one button. Type R. The user creates the cuts. Jumps between worlds. It was a joy to work on: create two dual narratives that weave in and out. Get to work with Jean-Philippe Ricci, Slimane Dazi and Mourad Frarema. Shoot on 35mm with Robbie Ryan. Create the two sides of the Honda world, and bring them into collision. Honda has a heritage of great advertising, and it was a pleasure to work with the W+K team on this project.”

All around the world, busy lifestyles and action packed schedules are resulting in people making less and less time for breakfast. Dairy co-operative Arla Foods wants to turn this trend on its head in one of its core markets with a playful new campaign reminding people to make time for breakfast.

Established in Sweden over a century ago, Arla’s range of dairy products has long been synonymous with good breakfast. The nation has a well-established reputation for a healthy lifestyle, but here the most important meal of the day is in decline.

Tid för Frukost, the next chapter in Arla's Let in the Goodness campaign, launched in Sweden on 26th October, the day when the country sets its clocks back an hour. Since the entire nation gains an hour in its day, Arla and Wieden+Kennedy asked, why not use this extra hour for breakfast?

From 13th to 26th October, two spots (Miss Clock and Backwards Talker) aired on TV, featuring all non-actors and interesting personalities bringing message to life. Stylised visuals echo a beloved piece of Swedish popular culture, the government public service announcement (‘anslagstavlan’), accompanied by a vintage jingle.

The subsequent part of the campaign rolls out after the clocks have been turned back, continuing to remind people to make time for breakfast, with with four films running on TV and VOD for a month from 26th October. This part of the campaign also uses non-actors to champion the power of a healthy breakfast to set people up for the day.

The TV campaign is supported by social activity, which includes short “alarm” films appearing on Facebook feeds between 7-9am each morning, reminding them to have breakfast with a variety of alerts including roosters, clocks and singing kettles.