BMW's Weirdly Hostile Marketing Campaign

[MJ6]

I saw this pop up in my feed this morning.
It would appear that BMW (instead of conceding that they screwed the proverbial pooch with their recently introduced design elements) has decided to defend their stance via a marketing campaign designed to convince you that they are right, and their consumers are wrong.
I can't see this going sideways for them at all...

https://www.thedrive.com/news/37673/...the-ix-is-ugly

[325iExecutive]

Oh boy - they made a mistake. It happens and then you move on. What you do next makes the difference. In this case, digging your heels and becoming stubborn ..... this is going to be an expensive comeback.

[DML]

Just wait till dealerships can't move them off the lot! I've already noticed sales aggressiveness for the "4".

[David0ff]

New BMWs are ugly, Ill stick to my F82 for many years, unless BMW makes pretty cars again.

[calcio]

Anyone see chips rendering redesign on YouTube? He hits the nail on the head

[luthers4]

Last weekend I noticed a blue BMW ahead in traffic that appeared brand new. I quickly navigated to catch up and pulled in behind him at a light. It was a new M3 with a temp tag. I know this won't be a popular opinion on this site, and I'm opening myself up to criticism, but I was impressed. I could see the brown leather interior with blue exterior (don't know specific color name); it was a beautiful combination. The rear stance was aggressive and when he turned right the side profile had prominent M3 lines. I didn't see the front grill, may be this would have swayed my opinion negatively, but in person in found it to be appealing.

[Sassicaia]

I can picture the marketing meeting.

Marketing Exec: Hey! I have an idea! Why don't we call our client in a super competitive industry stupid!

VP Marketing: Thats genius!! Let's make a commercial saying they obviously have no taste and are stuck in the past if they don't like our design.

oops!

[bsmf8x]

Originally Posted by DML

Just wait till dealerships can't move them off the lot! I've already noticed sales aggressiveness for the "4".

what do you mean "sales aggressiveness" , is the new 4 series selling well ? I've already seen 2 on the road in New York, still mixed about the grill

[RowanBuds]

Originally Posted by luthers4

Last weekend I noticed a blue BMW ahead in traffic that appeared brand new. I quickly navigated to catch up and pulled in behind him at a light. It was a new M3 with a temp tag. I know this won't be a popular opinion on this site, and I'm opening myself up to criticism, but I was impressed. I could see the brown leather interior with blue exterior (don't know specific color name); it was a beautiful combination. The rear stance was aggressive and when he turned right the side profile had prominent M3 lines. I didn't see the front grill, may be this would have swayed my opinion negatively, but in person in found it to be appealing.

You sure you didn't see an F80 that was newly acquired? AFAIK There should be zero non-Manufacturer plated G80's in the wild right now. Add in the listed start of production as 11/2020, with the temp tag thing makes me question that you saw 'the' new M3.

[MJ6]

Originally Posted by luthers4

I didn't see the front grill, may be this would have swayed my opinion negatively, but in person in found it to be appealing.

That's how a butter-face gets you man: great lines and a nice rear bumper, all while avoiding direct eye-contact

[4play]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

You sure you didn't see an F80 that was newly acquired? AFAIK There should be zero non-Manufacturer plated G80's in the wild right now. Add in the listed start of production as 11/2020, with the temp tag thing makes me question that you saw 'the' new M3.

There are no G80s in the US. So no clue what the guy saw. Maybe an M340i?

[icegrill]

"Okay bimmer" 🤣😭

[L82WRK_F80]

Originally Posted by MJ6

I saw this pop up in my feed this morning.
It would appear that BMW (instead of conceding that they screwed the proverbial pooch with their recently introduced design elements) has decided to defend their stance via a marketing campaign designed to convince you that they are right, and their consumers are wrong.
I can't see this going sideways for them at all...

https://www.thedrive.com/news/37673/...the-ix-is-ugly

Enthusiasts make up a small percentage of their actual customers. They're not trying to speak to us, they're trying to reach the masses. The fact that you shared this on here, and The Drive covered it, is already a win for them in their eyes. This kind of marketing is meant to drive conversation, and it's doing just that. As long as their bread and butter is competitively priced, they will be fine.

[MJ6]

Originally Posted by L82WRK_F80

Enthusiasts make up a small percentage of their actual customers. They're not trying to speak to us, they're trying to reach the masses.

This is true, they're likely trying to reach a different demographic entirely as opposed to us "boomer" enthusiasts 😏, and there's nothing wrong with attempting to expand into a different area of the market.
However enthusiasts are also the very customers that will provide free advertising while espousing the merits of your company/product to potentially future consumers. So good on them for trying to secure a bigger piece of the pie, but polarizing your fan base by digging in and telling them that they're wrong and your right probably wasn't the best move.

[omgf80]

Originally Posted by 4play

There are no G80s in the US. So no clue what the guy saw. Maybe an M340i?

Especially when he said that the side profile had prominent M3 lines. Not that I don't think the G80 profile is horrible, but it definitely does not carry the same M3 lines of yesteryears.

[swagon]

Boomers are the ones buying their crap, and, like, also boomers do not use twitter that much and are not into memes, so I don't even get the point of someone at BMW going, "okay, boomer" in their corporate tweets unless they're doing that to appeal to teenagers and people in their 20's who would get the reference but likely cannot afford to buy a brand new BMW.

"Okay, boomer" has become more of a slur, which only makes it even weirder that it's being used by an old German corporate. Feels like an old man trying to stay hip by saying what he thinks young people are saying, lol. And their poor replies to negative comments on Twitter remind me of what that angry soup man from Seinfeld would do had he have social media. "You dislike that soup? Well, you're wrong and you don't get a soup!"

The 2 Series Gran Coupe launch film was awful, too; literally portraying white people as lame and boring.

BMW AG and their hired marketing company probably do not realise that you can make a (wannabe) ground-braking product that is NOT ugly, repulsive and is not marketed to the masses in an offensive way.

[jpy1980]

Ummm this was also on their official Twitter page. Do they have a child managing their page? Are they really going with the old adage that negative press is better than any press?

Maybe this guy (the designer) is going down like trump, in a blaze of glory...

[L82WRK_F80]

Originally Posted by swagon

Boomers are the ones buying their crap, and, like, also boomers do not use twitter that much and are not into memes, so I don't even get the point of someone at BMW going, "okay, boomer" in their corporate tweets unless they're doing that to appeal to teenagers and people in their 20's who would get the reference but likely cannot afford to buy a brand new BMW.

"Okay, boomer" has become more of a slur, which only makes it even weirder that it's being used by an old German corporate. Feels like an old man trying to stay hip by saying what he thinks young people are saying, lol. And their poor replies to negative comments on Twitter remind me of what that angry soup man from Seinfeld would do had he have social media. "You dislike that soup? Well, you're wrong and you don't get a soup!"

The 2 Series Gran Coupe launch film was awful, too; literally portraying white people as lame and boring.

BMW AG and their hired marketing company probably do not realise that you can make a (wannabe) ground-braking product that is NOT ugly, repulsive and is not marketed to the masses in an offensive way.

You hit the nail on the head. They're trying to appeal to a younger audience. There's very little risk of upsetting "boomers" at scale with this campaign. Also, there's plenty of people in their 20's that can afford BMW's...especially when you can lease one for $350 or so a month. It's about getting them into the brand and locking in them long-term. Hence the 2-series, X1, i3...etc. For context, I purchased my F80 new at 27, a lot of other local enthusiasts are in that age-range as well.

They're focused on next generation of customers. Gotta keep the pipeline flowing.

[L82WRK_F80]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Ummm this was also on their official Twitter page. Do they have a child managing their page? Are they really going with the old adage that negative press is better than any press?

Maybe this guy (the designer) is going down like trump, in a blaze of glory...

If a child is getting grown adults to share their (harmless) tweets on an internet forum, they're probably doing something right.

[jpy1980]

Originally Posted by L82WRK_F80

If a child is getting grown adults to share their (harmless) tweets on an internet forum, they're probably doing something right.

Yet their a car manufacturer that sells cars... not a PR firm to spread info. Just odd, but I get what you mean.

It is entertaining

[swagon]

Originally Posted by L82WRK_F80

You hit the nail on the head. They're trying to appeal to a younger audience. There's very little risk of upsetting "boomers" at scale with this campaign. Also, there's plenty of people in their 20's that can afford BMW's...especially when you can lease one for $350 or so a month. It's about getting them into the brand and locking in them long-term. Hence the 2-series, X1, i3...etc. For context, I purchased my F80 new at 27, a lot of other local enthusiasts are in that age-range as well.

They're focused on next generation of customers. Gotta keep the pipeline flowing.

I'm in that target age range, too, like you. I just find the campaign really weird and the cars ugly.

[L82WRK_F80]

Originally Posted by swagon

I'm in that target age range, too, like you. I just find the campaign really weird and the cars ugly.

Both things got your attention. That means they'll also get noticed by ordinary consumers.

There's a lot of research and testing that goes into design and marketing, especially for large global brands. The fact that we're having this kind of dialogue about both is exactly what their marketing team is looking for. I've personally had more non-enthusiast's (co-workers, family, friends) ask me about BMW's in the past 3 months than I have in my 2+ years of ownership.