Bmw Films

1. What were the objectives of the BMWFilms campaign?

In the early 1990’s BMW’s performance in the US had reached a low point with annual unit sales falling as low as 53,500. The performance of the company was so poor that rumours in the automobile industry suggested BMW may exit the US market.

In the ten years from 1991 to 2000 however the company rebounded and by 2000 annual sales had reached record levels of just under 200,000. This impressive turnaround was achieved through introducing new models, an aggressive pricing strategy, re-organising the dealer network and adapting the cars to the American market.

The cars were marketed at very specific target audience. BMW had identified their target customer segment and were satisfied that their market positioning left them with a distinct market in which they had no real competition. They sought to appeal to well educated, successful, single males who desired quality but also had a love for driving. No other luxury car maker had positioned themselves in this space.

Following the successful 10 year run, the challenge put to the company was to continue to aggressively grow annual sales. The company had a target of sales of 300,000 units per annum.

Against this background in 2000 the company had an opportunity to build the brand without having to specifically market a new product. Core to the BMW image was an integrated communication strategy that ensured a consistent, clear and credible message was constantly delivered. The company was also open to media-neutral planning and considered all media options to get their message across. Following the success of their product placement in movies to date, they decided to embark on the BMWFilms project.

2. What did the BMWFilms project achieve?

The BMWFilms project allowed BMW to market their product, to their identified market segment in a new and dynamic way. They identified that technology was important to their target market, so restricting access to the films to internet users made this type of media an ideal way to reach their target audience. The process of logging on and registering on the website demanded a high degree of viewer involvement and therefore made the experience more memorable.

The idea of allowing talented directors have complete creative control over the films, fitted perfectly with BMW’s integrated communication strategy. The BMW brand is synonymous with quality and by employing well known and well regarded directors this image of quality was upheld. The directors were also regarded as �up-and-coming’ which also linked ideally with the BMW image of excitement