Players will get a look at the five new Civic vehicles, unlock badges, compete against friends and be able to enter for a chance to win two Honda Civics—one for them and one for their best Facebook friend. They will be exposed to an augmented reality game, gigapixel photo, a QR code and a video mosaic puzzle.
In addition, a partnership with SocialVibe will deliver in-game engagement ads to popular Zynga social games such as Café World and FarmVille.
The campaign centers around Cesar, the champion luchador, who lost his Civic somewhere in the "interwebs" and needs help finding it. Using the Shazam smartphone app, players will "shazam" each of Cesar's videos on his Honda YouTube channel playlist to find the next clue. However, Honda says alternate non-smartphone dependent clues are also available.
On someecards, players will look through custom, Civic character-themed cards to locate the next clue. Also, on a custom-built parody of a Russian Civic website, players will translate the copy to reveal the next clue.
"We knew that to break through this crowded space we needed to create a unique and engaging experience that resonated with our extremely digital-savvy target. There have been a lot of branded games, but none quite like this. We created seven Web films, content for 30 unique sites and apps, 30 badges and even our own augmented-reality app. We hope this blows people's minds—while giving them a deeper understanding of the cars and campaign," said Jason Sperling, SVP, GCD at RPA, Honda's long-standing agency of record.
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