BMW case study

BMW Case Study

1. Case Study #7 - BMW Films
CAP310 11/19
Lauren Flinsky, Rachel Rainville, Holly Holshouser, Michael Bernard

PROBLEM: The Vice President of Marketing for BMW North America, Jim McDowell, needs
to decide whether to continue to build on the BMW Films idea, or start looking for ideas for the
next BMW campaign.

CRITICAL FACTORS:
1. Past campaigns- virtual cameo appearances; “The Hire”-consumers loved the films and
wanted more.
2. Competition--BMW has a variety of competition within the luxury car market including
Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Lexus, Infiniti, Volvo, Porsche, Audi, Saab, and Ferrari
3. Target Audience- The young urban professionals. The average age for the the customer
base is 46 years old with a median income of $142,712. They tend to be leaders, people
who work hard and reach success early in life. They are active, detail oriented, busy, and
very particular with what they surround themselves with. Loyal to the brand.
4. Brand Image - Edgy and youthful. “The world’s most exciting luxury cars” and the
Ultimate Driving Machine.
5. Market Positioning--BMW sought to establish a unique positioning in the market. BMW
believes their target market is fundamentally different from its competitors and no one
else serves the particular psychographic that they do. Luxury, prestige, and performance.
6. Consumer Interaction--Had a lot of success with film campaign that allowed consumers
to comment with their opinions--responses were universally positive
7. Depth of Models of Cars--BMW offers a variety of models of cars and are constantly
putting out new products to entice their consumers
8. Budget--Because of the company’s size and limited marketing budget, every BMW
Campaign has to have maximum impact.

ALTERNATIVES:
“Milk” the existing five films by making them available to a wider audience:
Pros: The existing five films have received a lot of positive reviews that have exemplified and
changed many consumers minds of the brand image (1, 4, 6). By making these five films more
available a larger part of the target audience will be reached which could lead to more consumer
interaction (3, 6). These films are a part of an untraditional advertising campaign which sets
them apart from all competition and shows off their unique market position (2, 5). The variety of
films shows a number of the different cars that BMW makes (7). Since the films have already
been made, the budget would be spent on marketing them even more, so the campaign would
have a higher impact (8).
Cons: The films might have already reached their peak target audience, also it is not meeting the
requests of new films from the consumers (3,6). These films are limited in showing the different

2. models of cars (7). A new, fresh idea could expand the brand image (1). Competitors may be
entering into this untraditional media (2,5).

Develop more short films, all featuring “The Hire” actor Clive Owen:
Pros: The results from this previous campaign were overwhelmingly positive and has left the
consumer market demanding more (1). The viewers responded well to the short films and wanted
more, which makes way for further consumer interaction with the brand, if they were to continue
this approach (3,6). The brand image would continue to be strong (4). By creating more short
films, it would open the opportunity to show an even greater selection of car models (7). Because
of BMW’s comfortable, stakeholder position, the budget is not as big of an issue as it has been in
the past (8).
Cons: They have been successful multiple times in the past with generating new, fresh ideas for
campaigns, rather than repeating what has already been done (1). There is word that competitors
in the market are copy-catting the short film idea and have productions in the works, which
floods out this nontraditional media (2). BMW would lose valuable market positioning due to the
competitors entering into the same realm (5).

Development of a feature-length movie that would air in theaters nationwide:
Pros: Consumers wanted the campaign to be turned into a movie, this would be a fresh new way
to advertise and please the target audience (1,3). Competitors have never tried to make a feature-
length movie and could have trouble copying BMW in this area (2). This would support the
brand image in being edgy and exciting (4). A movie would help show the difference of the
BMW from competitors and show the performance (2,5). Movies are usually at least two hours
long, providing BMW with the chance to show off many benefits including all the different
models (7). Film reviews will be released about the movie (6).
Cons: Creating a movie will be very costly (8). With “The Hire” the films were released on the
internet allowing for interaction, consumers won’t be able to respond to the movie as easily (6).

Do nothing and simply move on to the next thing:
Pros: They would be able to create a new brand image with a new campaign with a fresh start
(4) They could also reach a wider audience if they start a new campaign that could attract new
customers (3) If they took a separate path they would be able to change their market positioning
to what they desire (5)
Cons: The past campaigns have been successful, so it wouldn't necessarily be the best idea to
completely abandon the film campaign (1) Consumer interaction was a great way to
communicate with the consumers with the ther past campaigns (6) It would cost a lot of money
to start from scratch and with their limited budget it would be very difficult (7) The previous
campaigns set them a bit ahead of their competition, so it wouldn't be smart to do nothing and
move on (2)

3. RECOMMENDATION: Jim McDowell should develop a feature-length movie.