BMWNA and its new top marketing executive, Dan Creed, is currently searching for a new ad agency to help spend its estimated $160 million advertising budget. And the vast majority of the budget will go towards TV advertising. The advertising budget breakdown, as Creed told dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in February will be:
68% for national TV, 8% for local TV, 15% for digital marketing (internet and mobile device ads), 2% in movies, and 7% for print advertising.
BMW and its previous lead agency, GSD&M Idea City ended their five year relationship in late October after the much maligned (on the internet) "
Joy is BMW" marketing campaign. Much of the criticism came from displeased BMW enthusiasts who feared an abandoning of the "Ultimate Driving Machine" slogan, which BMW says it has not abandoned.
As a sign of BMW's TV-centric marketing strategy, the company
advertised during the Super Bowl after a 10-year hiatus. BMW's near term future advertising will focus on TV and social media, promoting new and redesigned vehicles such as the X3 crossover. Later in the year, BMW will launch campaigns citing innovations and technologies said to set it apart from the competition.
Specifically, BMW appears to be drawn to advertising on live TV events because viewers are less likely to record and skip over the commercials in such programming. Along with the Super Bowl, BMW ran commercials during last month's Academy Awards broadcast and plans to advertise heavily during major golf tournaments and Sunday night football this year.
Source:
Autonews
Heidi