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Honda France and Dailymotion Business have won Best Use of Data at the 2026 VideoWeek European Video Awards for a campaign that reimagines what video advertising can deliver. By integrating conversational AI directly into video ads, Honda gave consumers a new way to explore its hybrid vehicles while uncovering valuable insights into what potential buyers really want to know.
For automotive brands, explaining increasingly sophisticated vehicle technology within a traditional 30-second commercial presents a challenge. Hybrid engines, driving systems, equipment options and trim levels all influence purchase decisions, yet consumers rarely have the opportunity to explore these details within an advertisement. Honda France wanted to change that.
Working with Dailymotion Business, the automaker introduced Echo AI, a conversational AI agent embedded directly into its video advertising. The technology allowed viewers to move beyond watching a commercial and engage directly with the brand, asking questions about Honda’s vehicles and receiving relevant answers in real time.
The campaign ultimately reached 3.5 million people and generated nearly 10,000 qualified conversations. More importantly, those interactions provided Honda with a deeper understanding of consumer interests, demonstrating how advertising can become a source of actionable intelligence.
Giving Consumers a Voice Within the Ad
Rather than directing viewers away from the video experience to find additional information, Honda brought the conversation directly into the advertising environment.
Echo AI was integrated into a pre-roll video ad, allowing consumers to engage with an AI-powered assistant as they explored Honda’s hybrid vehicles. The experience began with suggested questions designed to introduce key features and technologies, before giving users the freedom to ask their own.
A consumer curious about how Honda’s hybrid technology works could request a simple explanation, while someone further along in their purchase journey could explore specific equipment or compare trim levels.
The agent adapted its responses to the questions being asked, drawing exclusively from information provided and approved by Honda. This ensured that the experience remained consistent with the brand’s messaging while giving consumers greater control over the information they received.
The campaign ran on desktop, where a keyboard made it easier for users to engage in longer conversations and ask more detailed questions.
For Honda, this created an opportunity to address a familiar challenge in automotive marketing: helping consumers navigate complex product information without overwhelming them in a single advertising message.
Nearly 10,000 Conversations, and a New Understanding of Consumer Intent
Across two campaign waves, Honda reached 3.5 million people and generated nearly 10,000 qualified conversations through Echo AI. The campaign also achieved an approximately 80% video completion rate, with measured viewability ranging from 85% to 87%.
Yet the most valuable outcome wasn’t simply the number of interactions. It was what those conversations revealed.
As consumers engaged with the AI agent, their questions offered a direct window into the information they were seeking. Honda discovered particular interest in vehicle equipment, the differences between trim levels and the practical details of its hybrid technology.
These insights went beyond conventional campaign reporting. While traditional video metrics can indicate whether an advertisement was viewed or completed, the conversations helped Honda understand which aspects of its products prompted questions and where consumers needed additional explanation.
As Paul Collignon, Marketing Director of Honda France’s Automobile Division, explained in an interview with Minted:
“This is the first time we’ve launched a campaign that provides us with so much directly actionable qualitative data. Understanding precisely what consumers are looking for is an enormous time-saver when developing our future communications.”
For Honda, the findings created opportunities to refine future messaging, develop more relevant content and address consumer questions earlier in the purchase journey.
The campaign demonstrated that the value of conversational advertising extends beyond engagement during a single impression. The information consumers choose to share through their questions can help brands make more informed decisions long after the campaign has ended.
Recognized for Best Use of Data at the European Video Awards
This ability to turn advertising interactions into meaningful consumer insights earned Honda France and Dailymotion Business the Best Use of Data award at the 2026 VideoWeek European Video Awards.
The recognition highlights an important shift in the role of advertising data. Brands can gain a deeper understanding of their audiences through the questions consumers ask and the information they actively seek.
For Dailymotion Business, the campaign also reflects a broader ambition to make video advertising more intelligent, relevant and responsive to consumer behavior.
As Bichoï Bastha, GM of Dailymotion Business, explains:
“The most interesting thing about this campaign isn’t just that nearly 10,000 people interacted with an ad. It’s what those conversations revealed. Every question gave Honda a better understanding of its audience, turning advertising into a source of intelligence that can inform what comes next.”
The Honda campaign illustrates how AI-powered experiences can help brands translate audience engagement into useful intelligence, creating a more direct connection between advertising and future marketing decisions.
What Honda’s Campaign Means for the Future of Video Advertising
The growing role of AI in advertising is often discussed in terms of automation, targeting and campaign optimization. Honda’s experience points to another opportunity: using AI to make the advertising experience itself more useful to consumers.
For categories such as automotive, where purchase decisions involve extensive research and consideration, the ability to answer questions directly within an advertisement can help consumers navigate complex information at an earlier stage.
At the same time, the questions consumers ask provide brands with insights that would otherwise be difficult to capture through conventional advertising formats.
This creates a valuable feedback loop. Consumers receive information relevant to their interests, while brands gain a clearer understanding of the questions, priorities and potential barriers influencing purchase decisions.
The technology is not intended to replace the human relationship that remains essential throughout the customer journey. Instead, it can help consumers become better informed before engaging with a sales representative or exploring their options further.
For Dailymotion Business, this is part of a broader vision for video advertising, where technology and intelligence help brands better understand audiences and create experiences that respond to their needs.
Honda’s award-winning campaign demonstrates what becomes possible when video advertising creates space for consumers to participate.
Nearly 10,000 conversations didn’t just extend the reach of Honda’s message. They helped the brand understand what its audience wanted to hear next.
Minted recently explored the campaign in an interview with Paul Collignon, Marketing Director of Honda France’s Automobile Division, and Marine Hennequet, Brand Partnership Manager at Dailymotion Business.
The article examines how Echo AI works, the campaign’s results and the consumer insights generated through nearly 10,000 conversations.
Read the full article on Minted
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