The new BMW 3 Series is the driving force - Communication campaign for market launch begins

Munich. An extensive communication campaign with the claim, "The
Driving Force. The New BMW 3 Series" will be accompanying the
market launch of the new 3 Series saloon in Germany on 5th March. The
topic of sportiness will be in the spotlight, since the BMW 3 Series
has epitomised the sports saloon in the premium segment for 30 years
now. Wide-ranging classic advertising in the print media and on TV in
particular aims to reach the comparatively broadly based target group
for the new BMW 3 Series. Interactive measures such as an internet
special, a separate mobile platform for mobile phones, mailshot
campaigns and POS communication will complete the activities. A print
campaign with innovative special forms of advertising The print campaign
is starting on 14 February, with four motifs. The claim "The
Driving Force" highlights the strengths of the BMW 3 Series in the
disciplines of sportiness, elegance and innovative power. The first
page of the double-page print ads shows, in each case, a group of
competitive athletes from a wide range of disciplines, such as
sprinting, basketball, fencing or speed skating. What makes it special
is the fact that the outline of the group forms the exact silhouette of
a car, which makes the reader curious about what is on the next page -
which shows the new BMW 3 Series saloon. The outline of the car also
forms the basis for a series of innovative special forms of
advertising, which will be appearing from 28 February in news magazines
such as Focus and Der Spiegel and in the following weeks in national
daily papers such as the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Financial Times
Germany and the magazine Men's Health. Here, what are known as
"shape ad" formats are used. The vehicle outline is placed,
sometimes as a printed pull-off film, sometimes as printed parchment
paper, over the actual BMW 3 Series advert. There will also be a
stamped variant of the outline. The classic campaign was conceived by
the Hamburg agency Jung von Matt/Alster. Mediaplus in Munich was
responsible for the media planning. "Vision" TV Spot The
"Vision" TV spot will be running between 21 February and 20
March on stations with a wide broadcast range. A "Making of"
the ad will be shown on 4 March (at around 9.30 p.m.) and on 6 March
(at around 5.30 p.m.) on DSF. As in the print ads, competitive athletes
and the new BMW 3 Series will play the main roles. Content: During a
trip through the city, various passers-by who catch sight of the car
and observe it, fascinated, have a vision: The car changes into a
perfectly moving group of sprinters who exactly form the outline of the
vehicle. The driver has this vision too, after he gets out, and watches
the sprinters take a breather. They once again create the silhouette of
the new BMW 3 Series. Filming of the ad was directed by Derin Seal,
with production by radical media in Rio de Janeiro. Complete
post-processing including computer renderings was carried out in
Sydney. BMW 3 Series Internet Special and BMW 3 Series Mobile Platform
Anyone who is interested can obtain plenty of product details at
www.bmw.de and www.bmw.com . The BMW 3 Series Special shows
photo-quality, computer-animated 3D camera trips around the new saloon
from various perspectives that visitors can choose for themselves. On
the 3D model, visitors can also create individual combinations of
colour and tyre rim variants. Anyone who wants to find out more via
mobile phone can have the link to the mobile BMW 3 Series internet
service sent to them by SMS by going to "Mobile Services" and
entering their mobile phone number. Here, they will find - apart from
further fascinating facts - image galleries with free wallpaper images
and selected video sequences of the new BMW 3 Series. A wide target
group will also be able to access the contents directly in the O2
Active Portal outside the BMW web site. BMW 3 Series Internet Car
Configurator - with photo-quality 3D data from BMW Vehicle Development
for the first time The new BMW 3 Series Car Configurator will also be
going online for the market launch on 5 March. Here, interested
visitors will be able to configure their desired car individually and
check out their selected equipment and colours using vehicle images
with an accuracy of detail that has never been seen before. The use of
Virtual Reality (VR) data from BMW Vehicle Development makes it
possible, for the first time, to map the total range of variants of the
3 Series models. Until now, to show the range of variants and options
in the Car Configurator, pictures of vehicles were photographed
conventionally and laboriously retouched for different colours and
different equipment options. Yet the entire range of variants could
still not be shown using the old technology. The BMW 3 Series Car
Configurator was implemented by Imagic Grafik. The other internet and
direct marketing activities are the responsibility of Interone
Worldwide. Internationally consistent appearance with just three
campaigns By positioning the new BMW 3 Series in a way that is uniform
globally, it is possible to use just three campaigns throughout the
world - there were 17 campaigns for the predecessor model. The themes
of sportiness and presence run as a continuous thread through all three
campaigns - but with a different emphasis depending on region. The
campaign conceived by Jung von Matt with the claim of "The Driving
Force" will be used in the rest of Europe, in addition to Germany.
Here, the association between sport and the BMW 3 Series will be shown
as being as close as possible. In North America and the UK, the 3
Series has long become a synonym for the sports saloon in the premium
segment, and has established itself right at the top of this class. The
campaign conceived by the Fallon agency, in Minneapolis, with the claim
"1, 2, 3" therefore allows the product and its good reputation
(the "3") to speak for itself. For Asia, the Düsseldorf
agency U5 has developed the campaign with the claim "Enter the
next level". Because success plays a major role in Asian markets,
the marketing activities emphasise here in particular the high product
substance, the presence and the status character of the BMW 3 Series
range. International Powerhouse Global campaigns are developed and
selected in the "International Powerhouse". Under the
leadership of Central Marketing, representatives of the sales regions
and the marketing managers of the six most important markets and their
agencies meet in this committee. Combining their activities means that
it is possible to position the BMW brand even more consistently at
international level, and at the same time, smaller markets also benefit
from the professionalism of major agencies in a cost-effective way.
Due to essential technical maintenance, many images for the BMW 3 Series
campaign will only be available in print quality from 15 February in the
BMW Group PressClub Germany at: www.press.bmwgroup.com. If you have
any queries, please contact: Corporate Communications Markus Sagemann,
Business and Finance Communication, Marketing Communication Telephone:
089 - 382 68796, fax: 089 - 382 24418 Marc Hassinger, Business and
Finance Communication Telephone: 089 - 382 23362, fax: 089 - 382 24418
Internet: www.press.bmwgroup.com e-mail: presse@bmw.de