Honda Motor Europe appoints WPP Media as Media Partner of Record 

Dedicated EssenceMediacom team to lead integrated media strategy, planning and activation across 16 European markets and pan-European activity.

 WPP today announced that Honda Motor Europe has appointed WPP Media’s EssenceMediacom as its lead media partner across Europe, following a competitive tender supported by MediaSense. The new partnership spans Honda Motor Europe’s automobile, motorcycle, marine, power products, and corporate communications divisions across 16 European markets and pan-European activity. 

As part of its remit, a dedicated team will lead Honda’s media strategy, planning, and activation across Europe, supporting the company’s ambition to further strengthen its communications model in the region. The team will leverage WPP Open, WPP’s pioneering agentic marketing platform, to bring together Honda’s brand-building, product communications, and conversion activity, strengthening audience-led planning by connecting audience intelligence, channel planning, activation, and reporting in a unified system. This new approach will enable Honda to make more effective use of data and measurement through WPP’s Open Intelligence, improve collaboration between central and local teams, and deliver more connected media experiences across the consumer journey. 

Honda’s decision comes as the company continues to evolve its marketing approach and strengthen alignment across brand, product and customer engagement activities throughout its European markets and divisions. To support the next phase of this evolution, WPP Media will service Honda with a connected operating model that combines central strategic leadership with local market expertise with scaled activation capabilities to deliver regional consistency and in-market flexibility across Honda’s broad European portfolio, while bringing greater central governance and visibility across the region. 

Olivia Dunn, Head of Automotive Communications at Honda Motor Europe, said: “As the European automotive landscape continues to evolve, our focus is on continuing to build a communications model that is increasingly relevant, integrated and future focused. We are proud to appoint WPP as the partner who will support Honda in our next phase of growth, helping us bring our brand and outstanding products to customers across Europe in the most impactful and engaging way possible.” 

Andrew Saxon, Head of Motorcycle Communications at Honda Motor Europe, said: “As the number one motorcycle brand in Europe, Honda has both the opportunity and responsibility to lead how we engage riders across the region. We are focused on building deeper, more meaningful connections with both existing and future customers through integrated, rider-first communications. WPP are the right partner to elevate how we bring our brand and products to life with clarity, consistency and impact across Europe.” 

Caroline Foster Kenny, Global Client President, EssenceMediacom, said: “Honda is one of the world’s most iconic brands, with a remarkable heritage of innovation and a uniquely broad portfolio across Europe. We are proud to be partnering with the team at Honda Motor Europe at such an important moment in their marketing evolution and we look forward to helping them leverage the power of integrated media to drive growth across the region.” 

The partnership will take effect from August 2026.