Jim McDowell Case

Abstract

This case study is about BMW's advertising techniques and about Jim McDowell, former VP of Marketing for BMW in North America and the Debate on how to respond to the success of the company's latest marketing campaign, "BMW Films"

McDowell is, facing questions like what should BMW do for an encore? He

is considering four options which have different ideas. My paper will be discussing about which options he should consider on using and other opinions that I have about the short films that BMW is known for.

Before reading the BMW case, I decided to watch the video and had an opinion about the different videos. As I was watching the short film on line, I was impressed by the way they presented their product and brought great ideas .They promoted the car in a way that is not constantly shoving the BMW logo in our face instead, they impressed the customers with what that car can do.

The BMW films idea was creative. There are many companies that tried to promote their product by forming a short film but did not succeed because of their way of endorsing it. On one of the short films that I was watching, "Hostage!" ( John Woo with Clive Owen & Kathryn Morris/BMW) I noticed that the films don't feel like a commercial, they present it in a way that the customer or whoever is watching the film will feel connected to the car. For example, as I was watching it I felt like it was a real movie but at the same time I learned how the BMW was capable of different techniques. As I started reading some of the comments that people gave about the video I realized that they had a positive response, some of the comments were "it was epic. And then he drives off in that awesome car.?" and such.

Personally the multiple commercials of the car were successful towards the audience. There were other videos about different types of cars, like the Mercedes- Benz, jaguar and Ferrari which had their strength and weakness, but as compared to the commercial about the BMW car, more audiences were drawn to it.

Before reading or searching about the target market of the BMV I tried to envision what

Kind of person comes to mind when I think of the owner of the car. Suddenly a single,

Classy business women came to mind, I envisioned her holding a cigarette in her hand with a

demanding personality. Another person that I envisioned driving that car would be a young adult in his tweenies' who plays sport such as golf. I started thinking why those people came to my mind and realized that in most BMW commercials people we see driving the car are strong independent individuals who succeed in life at a young age. Another point that seemed to interest me was the image of the owner, because I would have never thought about that before I was exposed to the video.

Every company has a target that they want to aim for, some of which are the Volvo and Mercedes- Benz Company. Volvo is known for its high safety standards and it is mostly purchased by older people who are in there sixties. Mercedes Benz is the oldest vehicle and it is known for its status and comfort. Individuals that buy this particular vehicle are older and wealthy people.

In comparison to the other luxurious car companies BMW is playing a different filed. The luxury market is getting bigger and bigger and every company is upgrading its product in order to stay in the competition. But BMW has a unique way of targeting customer than the rest of the competitors. The company says that "BMW is targeting a different psychographic than the other companies and that an average BMW customer is about 46 years old and with median income of 150,000" The company did a research to track the personality and life style of its core customers and they have understood that these people are demanding and are willing to pay more to get a better product.

The motivation behind the idea of creating this film is to make people see and understand what that vehicle can do and to motivate people in to buying the car. The company wants to persuade people into thinking that once they purchase the car then, they are considered wealthy. For example, as most people I would like to be considered successful in life. I want to invest in a car like the BMW so that I can be seen a person that has a good salary and strong independent woman. However, this doesn't mean that the only reason why a person should invest in the car is for publicity but also for the comfort and the safety.

As explained by the BMW researchers, two third of customers that invest in this car are young male adults who are educated and married but have no children .The research also indicates that these men have a demanding personality. They also use their free time wisely; they are involved with sport such as golf. These are the type of people that believe in purchasing on a vehicle that serves the best product.

Commercials