Chain Reaction: Isn’t it nice when your supply chain just works?

This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the July-August 2023 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

July-August 2023

Most business people have heard the phrase “move fast and break things.” But how do you move fast, break things, and remain profitable? Inside this issue of Supply Chain Management Review are the answers—we hope. We have two articles this month that address decision-making. The articles (“Chain reaction: Isn’t it nice when your supply chain just works?” and “Managing like ‘Maverick’ in today’s turbulent, dynamic environment”) approach the topic of decision-making from decidedly different perspectives, but I believe they are more similar than they appear.

Browse this issue archive.

Already a subscriber? Access full edition now.

Need Help?

Contact customer service

847-559-7581   More options

Not a subscriber? Start your magazine subscription.

For 120 seconds, British viewers of the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix sat spellbound. They couldn’t take their eyes off the action. Amazingly, they weren’t watching the race. They were watching one of the most iconic adverts ever—Honda’s “Cog.” Here’s the concept:

Cog is a chain reaction of 85 parts from a Honda Accord. Each part cleverly interacts with the next, showing off an elegant, precise, and reliable system. The ingenuity of the engineers who built it is on display, creating a little awe along the way. At 1:49, a fully assembled Honda Accord rolls down a ramp as the announcer comments: “Isn’t it nice when things just work?”—the only words in the two-minute commercial.

If you’ve never seen Cog, check it out on YouTube (search “Honda Cog”). What made Cog iconic—and so influential? Consider three perspectives.

• It changed the ad landscape. You’ve seen many auto adverts. What’s common to each? They show the car. That’s because the client says: “Show my car. I want to see the car.” The creatives at Wieden+Kennedy wanted to stand out. So, they showed the Accord like no one had ever shown a car. Critics raved. Cog became one of the most awarded adverts ever.
• It generated hype—and trust. The full 120-second Cog aired only 10 times, all in the 10 days after the initial screening. Now, imagine this: CNN ran two features and Discovery produced a “making of” documentary. What Cog did was groundbreaking; how it did it remains magical. Viewed over 12 million times on YouTube, 20 years later Cog still speaks to Honda’s engineering capability and its tagline: “The Power of Dreams.”
• It worked. In 2002, Honda was stuck in a death spiral, losing share in the UK each year since 1998 and being eclipsed by Nissan as the number two selling Japanese brand. Worse, European drivers questioned Honda’s quality and viewed the brand as staid and uninspiring.
• Then Cog aired. Traffic to Honda’s UK website skyrocketed 400% and dealer visits rose 5%. More vital, UK sales jumped 28%—despite a decrease in media spend, a reduction in dealer promotion money, and a relative price increase. Cog made Honda relevant again.

SC
MR