‘Experience the next movement’ – more than just a tagline for BMW, it’s the start of a world changing experience. The only brand with a sound logo, BMW recently launched its BMW 3 series in India in a stunning event. Making use of the magic of 3D projection mapping, the Showtime Group managed to effectively and dramatically portray the fact that the 3 series is a sixth generation car and, therefore, one with a long lineage of evolution. In another award winning event, they dug up 60 feet below the earth in a crater spread over 32 acres, they pushed all boundaries and successfully delivered a ten obstacle track for the test drive that showcased every feature of the car.
Bottomline, the 28-40 year old males they were targeting were impressed and how. Understanding the psychology of their target group and giving them an experience that stimulated all the senses, BMW managed to more than convince the men who wish to move into the luxury car segment and are extremely particular about the brands they would like to associate with.
An experience that leaves an impact seems to be the right ingredient for increasing brand value and converting consumers. The amount of hard work that goes into creating that one spectacular ‘WOW’ moment that makes you want to jump from your seats and get your hands on the object of your desires is unimaginable. “the most important factor that we need to keep in mind while carrying out these events is the force of nature – unpredictable and the most disastrous”, says Aman from The Showtime Group. “The award winning event BMW Xperience 2011 faced the biggest downpour in 56 years. As if creating the magic 60 feet below the ground wasn’t enough, our team had to put up with the downpour and drain out the water from the ground that had formed into a lake.”, says Aman.
Now the point we are trying to make here is that the brands go through so much to execute that one event that creates the magic and catches the customers’ imagination beyond their expectations. How a car is made to climb vertically as if gravity was never an issue on this planet is unimaginable, all this to get the customers into believing in the brand and ultimately of course increase sales. BMW, Volvo and Audi, you name it, they’ve done it, and even won international level awards for the same. Pushing the envelope every time to give the customers that experience and create an event that manages to get the right response.
If you’ve seen any of the top action movies over the last 3-4 years Audi has been positioning itself as the new standard for desirable luxury. Audi wasn’t yet doing any straight up comparisons, but they certainly had been earning a bunch of “cool” on our emotional rolodexes. It seems like Audi has decided to cash in some of that earned equity and ratchet things up a bit. There is a reason how Audi has masterfully equated their brand with contemporary luxury and while placing Mercedes in the old luxury position. It’s been fun to watch the process unfold over the last few years. Cars are emotional purchases by default, but the feelings that the new Audi’s evoke make one’s heart beat faster, and they seem to be making people want to see if they can fit one into their budget.
Not everyone that buys cars understands what really goes on to build the mean machines and the intricacies involved with what’s going on there. What really gets our attention is how these brands portray their brands to us. Truth be told, if Mercedes wants to impress the young, fast and restless, they’ve got to buck up their game. They have some of the finest automobiles on the road – they’re styling, handling, everything is brilliant – yet they haven’t been telling us about it. So until then, let’s shine the spotlight on the right places and get people’s hearts racing again.
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