 Sales of Honda products within Europe had been in decline since 1998 , and the company 's position as the number two Japanese automotive company , behind Toyota , had been taken by Nissan . European consumers perceived the brand as staid , uninspiring , and the cars to be of lesser quality than those produced by European manufacturers . In one survey , one quarter of respondents " wouldn 't dream of buying a Honda as their next car " . It was in this climate in 2001 that Wieden + Kennedy proposed to Honda a new advertising strategy based on the company 's Japanese motto , " Yume No Chikara " ( " Power of Dreams " ) . The stated goal of the campaign was to increase Honda 's share of the UK market to five percent within three years and to change the public image of the brand from " dull but functional " to " warm and consumer @-@ friendly " , all on a lower marketing budget than their predecessors had demanded . 
