‘Project Drive-In’ sees Honda partner with the United Drive-In Theatres Association (UDITA) on a Vine Auction aimed at saving US drive-in movie theatres under threat from the cost of the switch from 35mm to digital.
Not a sponsorship, but an interesting CSR-led alliance between a national industry organisation and global car brand is an innovative collaborative approach to a form of industry-relevant communal support. In the case, support for the American drive-in cinema institution.
The first such cinema opened in the US in the 1930s and once there were more than 5,000 US drive-ins, yet today only 400 remain and many are seriously threatened because of the $75,000+ cost of installing new technology.
The latest phase of Honda America’s Project Drive-In, which has already saved five drive-ins from closure, began in August and aims to raise community awareness of the drive-ins’ plight and to provide simple ways for locals to get involved.
The brand-led one-day Twitter Vine Auction sees film critic Leonard Maltin act as auctioneer starts at 10am with a Vine video posted on to the @Honda Twitter showcasing the items up for auction. Each lot is open for bids once its item-specific Vine video is tweeted to the public (along with information outlining the minimum bid price and auction closing time).
To take part, bidders simply need to tweet the title of the item and their bid price along with hashtag #DriveInAuction.
The top win at the close of the auction wins and @Honda tweets the winning bidder who in turn is directed via @Honda direct message to a payment page on the Project Drive-In fundraising Web page.
Auction items are typically movie themed and range from ‘autographed film posters, original concept artwork, Hollywood VIP packages and tours of the Sony Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation studio lots, plus Disneyland tickets and passes to see Maroon 5 headline the 2013 Honda Civic Tour.
Plus, a Honda-donated 2014 Odyssey Touring Elite is available on the Project Drive-In fundraising Web page for $50,000.
The donations all help fund digital projectors and thus save drive-ins from closing.
Honda’s campaign information-rich US website also encourages viewers and consumers to share Project Drive-In with family and friends via social media using the #DriveInAuction hashtag, and to make a pledge to see one movie at their local drive-in theatre.
The auto brand also encourages donations to its Honda Project Drive-In Fund to help give out more projectors.
The initiative also sees Honda set-up pop-up efforts at many of its 1,000 US dealerships to further raise awareness.
Comment
An innovative way to raise funds through social media, this Twitter Vine Auction offers reach, immediacy and simplicity. Auctions can often been seen as complex and an insiders world, and social media has the potential to open up the format and amplify it way beyond the reach of the traditional auction house.
‘Cars and drive-in theatres go hand-in-hand, and it’s our mission to save this decades-old slice of Americana that holds such nostalgia for so many of us,’ says Alicia Jones, manager of Honda & Acura social marketing at American Honda Motor Co. ‘We’re committed to helping the remaining drive-in theatres flourish with the move to digital projection.’
Links
Honda YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh2ULhXtqYU
Project DriveIn Website
Project DriveIn Giving Page
http://igg.me/at/savethedrivein
UDITOA Website
