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A car campaign that doesn’t even show the car.

To raise awareness for the Honda Civic 2012, Honda has launched a new campaign, called “Off the Grid,” that showcases the “world of the unknown.”

“In building the new Honda Civic, Honda Engineers had to try things they had never tried before – They had to head into the unknown – we wanted the campaign experience to show how rewarding a journey into the unknown could be.”

Interesting premise but a BIT of a stretch.

Honda captured this “trip into the unknown” with a 360° camera (not a Honda Civic?)

The resulting execution takes viewers on a journey around the globe – including ice caves and an underwater art museum.

Definitely a new approach to car commercials -

We’re intrigued and entertained…but not convinced.

Regardless of how the engineers made the car, we’re pretty sure that Honda Civic isn’t taking you rock climbing or rappelling into an ice cave.

A TwitPic that picks up 12,000 more followers is no small “feet” – but Eric LeGrand did just that when he tweeted a picture of himself on his feet after doctors said he’d never walk again.

Fans voted Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand’s return to the field (albeit in a wheelchair) as Sports Illustrated’s 2011 Moment of the Year. This moment was made famous by his 93 character tweet: “So I left tire tracks in the snow yesterday as I led my team out next time will be footprints.”

LeGrand’s engagement with his fans along his road to recovery has kept him top of mind and rendered support from thousands of Twitter followers.  2011 marked the first year that the fans have chosen the SI Moment of the Year, and we’re sure social media played a big part in that decision. More than 75 million Facebook fans and Twitter followers voted, and LeGrand beat other candidates such as Barcelona’s soccer club and St. Louis Cardinal’s third baseman David Freese.

Sometimes 93 characters is worth a thousand words.

NBA teams are having a bit of a rough season. But contracts and short seasons aside, some teams are working hard to keep their fans happy and engaged.

The 76ers are in the process of choosing a new mascot and recently kicked off a fan voting contest to decide between the final three candidates: Big Ben, a version of Benjamin Franklin; Phil E. Moose, “one of the most regal animals to roam the wild,” according to a team press release; and B. Franklin Dogg, whom the team calls “the All-American pet.”

An online contest with lots of digital integration…and one very big problem: The team failed to set up Twitter accounts for the mascot nominees.

Enter two 76ers fans: Jerry Rizzo and Hunter Coleman.  The two twenty something, self-proclaimed social media and 76er fanatics took it upon themselves to help out their favorite NBA team – they registered the Twitter accounts @PhilEMoose and @BFranklinDogg. (@BigBen_76ers was already taken.) and also set up Facebook and Google+ accounts for the nominees.

And in a matter of days, @PhilEMoose had nearly 500 followers, while @BFranklinDogg had more than 200. The team has so far received tens of thousands of votes in the contest.

How did the 76ers treat these super social fans?

First they asked them to stop and hand over the passwords (in a legally threatening email).

Then they gave them box seats to the 76ers’ home opener and free season tickets in exchange for “helping out with future fan engagement.” (passwords included in the trade).

And THEN something really crazy happened.  Yesterday, Jerry Rizzo was rewarded for his entrepreneurial sprit with a full-time social media position with the 76ers.

Mashable (who broke the story) reports:

On Saturday, 76ers CEO Adam Aron left Rizzo a voicemail asking Rizzo to call him back. Rizzo did, and Aron quizzed him about his interests and experiences, adding that he had been impressed by Rizzo’s online portfolio and work. On Monday, Rizzo went to team headquarters for a series of in-person interviews before sitting down with Aron again. “He said, ‘We’d like to offer you a position with the team,” Rizzo recalled on Monday evening of accepting a social media coordinating position. “And I said, ‘Yeah.’ I mean, it would be kind of like a dream job for me.

Unbelievable?  Not really.

It’s a sign of the times.  Social media is a huge part of fan engagement – whether teams, players or sponsors want it or not – they can no longer afford to ignore or neglect it.

And before we go, let us say this:  The 76ers got lucky.

Rizzo and Coleman handled the accounts professionally – not only did they set up the accounts, they represented and managed them appropriately.  The account transition was relatively easy, the campaign got a boost in awareness and the 76ers got a new social media lead.  Everyone came out ahead and no damage was done.

Imagine what this story would have been like had the opposite happened?

He’s done it again.

American artist, Jeff Koons, has partnered with BMW again and the 2011 collaboration has netted a pretty amazing miniature version of the legendary BMW M3 GT2.

So how does Koons interpret the motion and speed of the vehicle?

BMW M3 GT2 Art Car Jeff Koons is 1:18 limited-edition miniature metal model. It reproducts the original version in full detail and features a contrasting silver interior. It also has a removable hood that allows you to see the engine inside, and the trunk can also be opened. A clear varnish protects the colored transfers to keep the model vibrant for years. The edition is limited to 5,000 miniatures, each model is supplied in its own display case.

Koons joins the ranks of other BMW collaborators – Calder, Lichtenstein, Stella, and Warhol.

Pretty stellar company.

Earlier this year, BMW launched the significant collection of its art cars created by iconic artists online. One of the latest contributors was Olafur Eliasson, a Danish artist who entitled his work ‘Your mobile expectations: BMW H2R project’.He removed the outer shell of a hydrogen-driven prototype and replaced it with a complex skin of steel mesh, shining metal plates, and diverse layers of ice.

A big Fastrac ditto on the thumbs up…

Seriously Nike scavenger hunt in Vienna…

Nike Running got together with ad agency Jung von Matt/Neckar to create a creepy but cool high-tech treasure hunt in the nighttime streets of Vienna.

Called “Catch the Flash,” the 90-minute game had participants chasing 50 runners — all wearing the Nike Vapor Flash Jacket — through dark streets and back alleys in order to capture a photograph of the individual runners. The flash of their smartphone cameras illuminated the reflective material on the jacket and reveal the printed number on the back – catching a picture of the jacket meant the chaser had “caught” that particular runner.

All 50 runners were equipped with iPhones running a GPS app so they could be tracked online (which also allowed users to play the game on a virtual map of Vienna using their computer or mobile device).

Bright (literally) idea.

We love fast cars.

And we love ads that promote fast cars – case in point:  really smart work for the Mercedes-Benz 2012 C-Class Coupe,

To launch the Mercedes-Benz 2012 C-Class Coupe, one was parked in front of a motion blurred wall, sidewalk, and billboard that read:

“Looks fast. Even in park. The 450hp 2012 C-Class Coupe.”

To complete the motion-blur illusion, real 3D models of a motion blurred fire hydrant, parking sign, and mailbox were created to be part of the street scene.

Kudos to BBDO Toronto for the concept.

Sad news out of the IndyCary world today.

Legendary Car Owner, Carl A. Haas, confirmed that Newman/Haas Racing cannot continue in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2012.

Newman/Haas Racing has been viewed as one of the most successful open-wheel racing teams in the United States.  Their racing history consists of 29 consecutive participations in Indy car racing seasons ( from 1983 to 2011), eight championships, 107 race wins and 109 pole positions.

In addition to Catalan Oriol Servia and Rookie-of-the-year, James Hinchcliffe, some of the illustrious drivers that have worked with this team are Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Christian Fittipaldi, Cristiano da Matta, Sebastien Bourdais, Bruno Junqueira, Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson.

Not too shabby.

Success aside, the NHR team was falling apart, loosing money and loosing steam.

Haas has been in failing health and wife Bernie Haas had taken over some of the day-to-day operations of the team, along with John Tzouanakis and Brian Lisles.  Co-owner Paul Newman passed away several years ago and, with the murder of long-time mechanic (and backbone of the team) Davey Evans at Indianapolis two years ago, some of the innate spirit of the NHR team was removed.

It’s the end of an era.  And we’re sad to see them go.

Toyota unveiled a high-tech concept car Monday, just ahead of Japan’s semi-annual auto show.

Company president Akio Toyoda called the Fun-VII (Vehicle Interactive Internet) concept car a “smartphone on four wheels.”

Among other things, it can recognize its driver and run its own diagnostics — qualities other car companies have experimented with in casual ways.

Hybrids and electrics account for less than 3 percent of all cars sold in the U.S. this year, but that ratio is higher in some areas.

The San Francisco Bay Area leads the nation with 8.4 percent of all cars sold and the rest of the top 10 markets are also on the West Coast.

via NPR

From Eminem’s “Loose Yourself” to Edgar A Guest’s “See It Through,” Chrysler’s Detroit-focused ad campaign has resurfaced as something addictive and beautiful.

The latest installment, dubbed “See It Through”, is centered on the Chrysler’s 300 sedan and promotes the automaker’s spirit of hard work through the prose of Michigan Poet Laureate Edgar A. Guest.

Guest’s 1917 See It Through poem is featured in the new Chrysler 300 television spot and print ads, which have been launched just in time for the Thanksgiving media blitz.

The 60-second television spot weaves luxury craftsmanship and best-in-class capabilities of the 300 with the hard-working spirit and toughness of the people of Detroit. It opens with Muddy Waters singing Mannish Boy, and as the song continues a voiceover recites Guest’s poem as a Chrysler 300drives through Detroit-area neighborhoods.

Old and new.  Grit and gleam.  All kinds of right without any wrong.