BMW Films
It was August 2001, and Jim McDowell vice president of marketing for BMW North America, was reflecting on BMW's latest marketing campaign as he sat before his computer:
People respond negatively to gratuitous commercialism. But in our films, the BMW vehicles are not gratuitous props; they are actors in a scene. There are no beauty shots of the cars. The cars get extensively beat up. Each car is there becau it is a very important actor in the development of the plot. The cars definitely take their lumps along the way. There's nothing gratuitous about it.
McDowell bent forward, and hit the "play" button on the screen. On the computer monitor, a movie scene unfolded. The scene was part of BMW's latest marketing campaign-five short films created for the Internet. Directed by a cadre of internationally renowned directors, the films had gripping story lines and were generating tremendous industry-wide buzz.
Two Tibetan monks, one barely eight years old , survey the icy lot of shipping yard. A driver pulls up in a sleek BMW 540i. The younger monk is helped into the car. The driver adjusts his rear view mirror to monitor his pasnger. Their breath is visible as they size each other up. Two more ts of headlights suddenly appear in the yard. A ballet of escape begins; a beefy Mercedes and a nimble Honda team up to trap the 540i. Automatic weapons erupt as Baroque music plays in the background, and a veritable midnight pas-de-trois plays out in the icy field of shipping containers.
"This is my favorite film," McDowell remarked as he turned from his computer. There was no question that the films were good, perhaps too good. "The question is, what do we do for an encore?"力回馈
形容步伐的词语BMW: The Ultimate Driving Machine
Bayeriche Motoren Werke (AG) was originally founded in 1916 as an aircraft engine manufacturer. The Munich-bad BMW produced its first automobile m 1929; by the 1980s, the company's position in the luxury/performance gment of the global automotiv
e market had been firmly established.
例假推迟的原因
The core of the BMW product line was its dans. The company offered three distinct Series:
* The 3 Series was BMW's entry-level dan. Launched in 1975, it tended to attract upwardly mobile professionals; as McDowell put it, "The are people who are achieving success early in life, people on their way up." In 1989, the 3 Series accounted for about half of BMW unit sales and was priced between $25,000 and $34,000.
* The 5 Series, launched in 1972, was BMW's mid-range dan. In 1989, it accounted for about 32% of unit sales, with a price range of $37,000 to $44,000.
成年人的英语* The 7 Series, launched in 1977, was BMW's flagship dan. In 1989, it accounted for about 16% of BMW unit sales, with a price range of $54,000 to $70,000. Before the mid-1970s, BMW had been regarded by most Americans as a niche foreign car manufacturer. However, in the late-1970s, BMW had emerged as one of the hottest luxur
熬菜读音y brands in North America. (See Exhibit l for unit sales m the U.S. over time.) BMW's "Ultimate Driving Machine" campaign had been widely credited for this surge in popularity. The campaign's ads had featured BMWs driving through country estates, parked in front of huge mansions, and pulling up to black-tie affairs. Other ads had focud on the superior performance of the BMW, emphasizing such factors as superb handling and German engineering. This dual positioning (prestige + performance) had appealed to young urban professionals who-in an era of "conspicuous consumption"-had been looking for a car that conveyed a n of affluence and style, without the stodgier, conrvative image associated with Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, and Cadillac.
写给老师的检讨书 In the late 1980s, however, the North American luxury car market started experiencing a shift. A new pragmatism began replacing the conspicuous consumption patterns of the early 1980s, and BMW soon found itlf saddled with an outdated image as a "yuppie car" manufacturer. The company also faced fresh competition from Japan. Honda had been the first to enter the luxury market with its introduction of the Acura in 1986; it had been followed by Toyota (Lexus) in 1989 and Nissan (Infiniti) that same year.
The Japane cars offered superior quality, reliability, and rvice at lower price points than BMW. They also had competitive feature ts; in fact, many of the high-end features touted by BMW in its advertising (such as ABS brakes and air bags) were standard in the other brands. Making matters wor, the Japane brands were sold by a relatively small number of exclusive dealerships that were able to provide excellent rvice levels while maintaining high sales volumes. Furthermore, they were promoted in large-scale advertising campaigns that dwarfed tho of BMW. (See Exhibit 2 for a comparison of 2001 media budgets, Exhibit 3 for a comparison of approximate retail prices, and Exhibit 4 for a comparison of sales over time.)共同特质
