Background

According to research conducted by Honda, 75.3% of parents with infants “are hesitant to be out in public with their baby due to concern the baby might cry”. Wanting to address this social issue, Honda focused on the similarity in the frequency waves of “automobile sounds” and “sounds infants hear in-utero” and found that the sound of an automobile engine is effective in soothing crying babies. Based on this finding, Honda created “Honda SOUND SITTER”, a stuffed toy with the recorded sound of an actual engine. They also released a documentary movie about the experiment and product development and held an experiential event. 

URL

https://www.honda.co.jp/SOUNDSITTER/

What we did

SSU worked with Hakuhodo in planning and executing the research, experiment, PR, and event.

We invited Kita Keiichiro, the director of the Sound-Healing Association, to supervise the experiment and ensure accurate results. The surprising findings about the effects of the engine sound on crying babies was included in a press release which garnered a wide range of media exposure. Additional media exposure was secured as a result of the positive response on social media, total views of the documentary and interviews on event day. 

SSU contributed to enhancing corporate branding and maximizing a buzz around the project by incorporating “problem solving PR” – communicating about corporate efforts to provide a solution for a social issue.