BMW Summary
BMW MARKETING INNOVATION
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When BMW’s competition started imitating its advertising messages , BMW responded by hiring
Fallon Worldwide to come up with a new campaign The result was “The Hire” series
Fallon had to address several issues:
i) The way in which the movies were delivered to BMW’s target audience
ii) Whether the campaign should be the same everywhere or be localized according to
language and consumer taste differences
BMW also wanted to change its image  not only cool but likeable
COMPANY PROFILE
 Founded in 1916 (Publicly traded since 1969)
 Produces and markets higher end sporty cars and motorcycles; also operated airplane engine
division under name of Rolls Royce
 Also operates own finance company (offering financing for vehicles)
 Manufactured the first car running on hydrogen ready for common use
 Has manufacturing plants in Germany, Austria, the UK, the US, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa,
Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam
 Revenue for the year 2000:
Cars= 78%
Vehicle finance leasing=18%
Motorcycles= 3%
Other=1%
 BMW’s success due mainly to the development of a consistent marketing policy.
 4 Core values (at least 1 of these expressed in each BMW ad):
I.
Technology
II.
Quality
III.
Performance
IV.
Exclusivity
 BMW has also maintained a consistent advertising strategy
 BMW also sensitive to environmental, economic and competitive changes and reflects this
through its ads
 BMW has high-profile national color press and television ad campaign (design philosophy)
*Local ads by dealers highly encouraged*
 Standardizes BMWs message by offering ad materials to local dealers
 BMW has embarked on a global ad campaign that remains consistent across several markets
BMW FILM
 “The Hire” consists of 5 different short films
 Available only via BMWFilms.com
 Identified as, “the first high-profile, big-budget, celebrity-laden Internet marriage of advertising
and entertainment”
 Idea behind films: Ultimate Driving Machine saves the day; driver on nighttime mission along
with a mysterious passenger
 Several ways to watch the video—Quicktime, Real Video or easily downloaded Film Player
 Large numbers of viewers to the site
 BMW used the fact that “over 85% of car buyers conducts most (if not all) their initial research
on the Internet before making a final decision on a purchase” to their advantage in launching
this online campaign
FILM CONCEPT
o BMW was concerned about being able to reach its core market via traditional methods
like TV
o Internet growing in popularity
o Concern over competition’s increasing similarity to BMW’s “look and feel”
o BMWFILMS has gotten a lot of buzz in both the entertainment and business press
which helped BMW achieve its goal of looking “cool”
o For people without a computer or a high speed internet connection, BMW purchased
infomercial time on the Bravo and Speedvision channels
TARGET AUDIENCE
 BMW initially didn’t know who the films would appeal to though they knew that
everyone from high school students to 7-series owners would view the ads
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TYPICAL BMW AUDIENCE
 Changing values
MARKETING CHANNELS
INTERNET
 Innovative becomes ordinary quickly so advertisers have to constantly try to stay ahead
of the competition
TELEVISION
 20.5% of viewers of MSNBC and Bravo are in BMWs target income bracket
PRINT
 Premier magazines like TIME reach less of BMW’s target market since the average
reader is twice as old as BMW’s target audience and earns half as much
DVD PROMOTIONS/FREEBIES
 Possible advertising medium?
COMPETITIVE ANAYSIS
 (1997)Mercedes, Lexus and Audi almost pushed BMW from its leading position in the
luxury car segment
 BMW 3 biggest competitors have targeted BMW’s greatest strength—performance—
so BMW unable to distinguish itself as having unparalleled standards of quality
MERCEDES
o DaimlerChrysler parent company
o Global presence
o Strong brand
o Presence
o Product Range
o Technology Leadership
o Low-key advertising
o Has joined the Internet advertising movement
LEXUS
o Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. parent company
o America’s top-selling luxury car
o Challenge to lose “tough but reliable” Toyota image
o Targeting younger buyers
o Average age of Lexus owner is 50
o Limited only presence—trying to change this somewhat with new ads
AUDI
o AUDI Group parent company
o Promoting exclusivity of its cars
o Ambitious online marketing campaign (during the time of the case)
o Aims to educate and entice users to go to dealerships through interactive site and online
sweepstakes and prizes