Honda could spend millions and millions of dollars creating the ultimate marketing campaign about how their cars are built to last. In it, they could include ads that will "cut through the clutter," "create both a rational and emotional bond" and "win international awards." They could have a 24/7 twitter feed, a video game from Zynga, a wickedly cool App and of course, killer product placement in Transformers 4, the legend of the Civic.
OR... they could just introduce us to Joe, an average guy from Maine sporting a pretty nice mustache who just crossed the 1,000,000 mile marker with his 1990 Honda Accord. Pretty amazing.
Honda wisely and nicely celebrates Joe and his not so average achievement. They document his odometer turning over to the original starting point of 000000. They throw him a parade. And they even buy him a brand new Honda. Now, that is a tremendous example of how to show off the feats of your product while building brand and customer loyalty. If they were really cool though, they would've thrown in a chauffeur.
