Overview

Based on a survey result that 75.3% of mothers with infants feel “going out is a hassle because they are worried about their children crying,” Honda considered what it could do for families supporting infants, and focused on the fact that the frequency of “car engine sounds” and “intrauterine sounds that fetuses hear in their mother’s womb” are similar. As a result of experiments, it was found that car engine sounds have a calming effect that stops infants from crying. Based on this result, we produced the “Honda SOUND SITTER,” a stuffed animal that plays real car engine sounds, and released a special movie that followed the experiment and the production process of the stuffed animal. We also held a touch-and-try event.

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

Activities

In collaboration with Hakuhodo Inc., we were in charge of research, experiments, PR, and events.

We commissioned Keiichiro Kida of the Sound Healing Association, who studies the effects of environmental sounds on people, to supervise the experiment and conducted an accurate experiment. The experimental results and the unexpected fact that the engine sound stopped infants from crying were distributed as a press release, gaining exposure in a wide range of mass media. After that, we gained further exposure by using the high response on SNS, the number of video views, and coverage on the day of the event as hooks.

By planning “problem-solving PR” communication to solve the social issue that about 80% of mothers are “reluctant to go out because they are worried about their children crying,” we were able to contribute to corporate branding and maximizing buzz.