• by Karl Greenberg , July 15, 2013

Vine has become a hot spot for marketers, including auto marketers, who are using the short-form video platform to tailor those endless-loop messages to short attention spans. 

But Honda is doing it real-time, as part of its summer clearance campaign with Vine videos as responses to tweets. There's even a star connection: a TV component of the company's summer campaign plays off of a tweet message actor Neal Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) floated last month about which minivan he should get.    

The just-launched campaign involves, first, getting people to tweet #wantnewcar about why they need a new car, and then responding in real-time with tweets that include personalized Vines. The six-second videos are shot at a dealership in Southern California.

By way of example, a tweet on Monday from @BrittanyTaylor6 said, "I have always wanted a honda!!" @Honda tweeted back, "Good news, @brittanytaylor6, We think you and Honda are a perfect match!" that included a Vine showing an impromptu Valentine card stuck on the windshield of a Honda: "Honda has always wanted a @brittanytaylor6."

Television, print, digital and radio play on the #wantnewcar conversations. The TV spots show Honda dealers (actors) responding to real tweets, including the one from Harris. Another spot touts infotainment apps like Pandora with the dealer doing a Harlem shuffle-style impromptu dance party in a Civic based on a tweet from one @KasiJackson. 

The automaker says the TV spots will air during national prime network programs such as “Shark Tank,” “Extreme Makeover, Home Edition,” “CSI,” “Vampire Diaries,” “Two Broke Girls,” “America’s Got Talent” and cable networks, including A&E, Animal Planet, Bravo, AMC and TBS. Print will run in Entertainment Weekly, People, Sports Illustrated, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Time. The ads will also run in The New York Times,Wall Street Journal and USA Today, per the company. 

Online ads run in third-party auto verticals like AOL Autos, Edmunds, MSN Autos, Autobytel, AutoTrader and Cars.com, plus a home page takeover of USA Today that will pull in @Honda’s live Twitter feed. 

Susie Rossick, senior manager of regional marketing at American Honda, tells Marketing Daily that the idea -- a first for Honda -- came from noticing social-media venting about autos. “We noticed an existing conversation on social media with people complaining about their car and, in turn, wanting a new car." She adds that reaching out to customers on Twitter with Vine videos "allows us to extend the television spots into social media while adding a personalized, real-time twist."