Bmw Films Free Essays

Decision Problem The primary issue faced by Jim McDowell is what to do for his next marketing campaign. He will need to decide what direction BMW will take in order to stay current in the target market and position the brand as the leader in the luxury car industry. A sub issue that Jim is facing is that in order for BMW to stand out compare to the competition, it must be at the forefront of the marketing trend. We will write a custom essay sample on Bmw Films or any similar topic only for you Order Now There is always pressure on innovative marketing campaigns as a bad campaign can lead to severe damage in the company image and reputation. Decision Alternatives There are a number of alternatives that Jim faces when deciding in what direction to move with the BMW marketing campaign. Develop more short films and build a big series out of it. Develop a full length movie for the theatres Do nothing to the existing campaign and move on to develop a new campaign To continue to use the existing BMW films plus developing a new campaign Creating new films on the heels of the original films plus developing a new campaign Develop a full length movie plus developing a new campaign In order to decide the best alternative it is important to look at some key decision criteria. In this case the important factors would be: delivery time, risk, cost, competitive advantage, ease of implementation. Analysis of Industry In the luxury car segment, BMW and Mercedes have stand strong against the strong competition from Japan like Acura, Lexus, Infiniti. In year 2001, BMW is second best luxury car seller, just behind Lexus amount the other ten major luxury brands. However, BMW only ranked 8th in media expenditures, which again proved the great success on their innovative campaign. In terms of customer loyalty, luxury brand customers do tend to stay among the top brands and are very loyal. There are always customers who switch from BMW to Mercedes or the other way around. Since BMW has the competitive advantage of a younger clientele, it is very important for BMW to create marketing campaign to young adult so they can look forward to own a BMW when they can afford one. Analysis of Company Evaluation of Alternatives Alternative #1, 2, and 3 should only be considered as a short term alternative that can achieve quick beneficial results with no long term prospects because all the alternatives evolve around the same film concept, which eventually will wear out and target audience will not be interested in it anymore. Alternative #4 takes into account with BMW’s long term goal, to be the leader in the industry with innovative campaigns. However, developing a new concept takes time and research before implementation, therefore some immediate alternatives needs to be done before the new campaign kicks in. Alternative #5, 6, or 7 will achieve that goal. Alternative #5 Introduce the BMW films to new markets that may have missed the online films during the campaign period will enable BMW to entice an entirely new segment. By showing the films throughother mediums, BMW will be able to reach a wider audience plus raising the brand awareness. Since this campaign is so successful and unique, BMW can also produce DVD and make itas a collectible item. This alternative is easy to implement, low cost to run, low risk as the campaign is already running with huge success with good reputation. However, other companies may copy the idea and there is a chance that BMW will lose its competitive advantage as the films are getting overly exposed to the original audiences that BMW targeted during the initial campaign period. Therefore, developing another campaign while this is running is necessary in order to achieve BMW’s long term marketing goal. Alternative #6 The other option would be to follow up with another series of films on the heels of the original films. BMW would want to keep the number of films low to try and blend them into the successful original films and not to market them as another series of short films. This alternative will require some time to prepare, and the cost will be much higher in comparison to Alternative #5, which will make it harder as BMW will need more resources in creating a new campaign at the same time. It is easy to implement as all the ground works are in place from the previous films. However, this alternative will have a higher risk than other options due to the high anticipation of BMW to produce high quality films. If any of the film receives negative feedbacks, BMW will risk losing out on the campaign inwhole, plus the reputation of the series. BMW will still keep its competitive advantage with this alternative as they are still the one who leads the marketing trend. Alternative #7 Creating a full length movie can be the next big campaignfor BMW. It is a new approach and will make the brand stand out of all others. The target audience is also much wider in comparison to the initial campaign. It will take a long time to implement, and not as easy as short films because a full length film is more complicated in terms of plot and production. The cost will also go veryhigh that may use up all of BMW’s resources in marketing. It is a two sided sword because if BMW is not placed enough in the film there is no difference in doing product placement in the James Bond movie series; meanwhile if BMW is overly exposed in the film it may create negative feedbacks as it will look like an hour long commercial. The interest level of audience will also be much lower in watching a long commercial than a short film. Decision Criteria Chart Here is the chart for the best 3 alternatives: (X? low score, XXX? high score) Recommendation Based on the analysis above it is evident that the appropriate course of action is to utilize the existing movies in the short term while developing a new full scale marketing plan in the background. By utilizing the existing films BMW will be able to quickly get to market films that they have already completed. They will ride the coat tails of the internet marketing, however by introducing the films to another target markets, BMW will hopefully build on the impact created by the original films. There is relatively low risk to this model because BMW has already invested in the films and by using different mediums to convey their message it is likely that an entirely new market segment will appreciate the films as the original audience did. Although the potential payback may not as great as some off the wall innovative idea, the concept behind releasing the films to a different audience should allow more time and resources to develop another new campaign. If there are enough resources, BMW can also consider creating 1 or 2 more films to avoid losing the competitive advantage toward the target audience. How to cite Bmw Films, Papers Bmw Films Free Essays Case Study BMW Films Decision Problem and Issues Statement With the great sales performance and strong brand awareness in U. S. market, BMW has decided to launch a non-traditional advertising campaign via producing s series short films and publishing in BMW’s website, in order to create brand excitement and enhance brand equity thus further strength brand loyalty. We will write a custom essay sample on Bmw Films or any similar topic only for you Order Now The BMW Films marketing campaign turned out to be very successful via generated huge media exposure and receive positive feedback from all website visitors. BMW now needs to make a decision on whether to continue to build on BMW film idea or start looking for new ideas for the next campaign. In addition, BMW faces a variety of sub issues that stem from the major issue: †¢ Strengthen brand image – always focus on strengthening the luxury image of the brand and not lose lead in the luxury market †¢ Stay ahead of the competition – ensure that new marketing ideas are innovative, stylish that provides BMW with a competitive advantage Define the target market for each product line – differentiate each BMW product which caters to different specific target groups in order to further increase the sales volume and market share. Decision Alternatives 1. â€Å"Milk† the existing film campaign – use the existing 5 films to strengthen brand image by focusing on reaching a wider audience 2. Develop more short films – Develop more short films to compliment the originals and continue to build up the mom entum and awareness. 3. Feature film – Develop a feature length movie for theatre audience to further enhance the emotional connection with BMW . Do nothing – move on to a new marketing initiative Decision Criteria The criteria that are important to the alternative analysis are: †¢ Easy to implement †¢ Improvement of luxurious brand image †¢ exposure to all audience especially potential buyers and car lovers †¢ brand recognition as the luxury and quality car maker †¢ Monetary and time investment †¢ Innovative non-traditional idea for communication campaigns Industry Analysis Success in the luxury car industry is characterized by the strength and quality of the product, differentiation of target customer group and uniqueness in brand communication. The luxury car market is a highly competitive market consisting of numerous brands each with a variety of models. Elegance, performance, technology and driving experience are all critical factors in the manufacturer’s success. The threat of brand substitution is high, with each manufacturer offering competitive products positioned for specific market segments, whilst Supplier power in the industry is low as there are many suppliers competing for the luxury manufacturers business. Company Analysis With BMW quality of cars and their previous marketing campaigns, BMW is well positioned to compete in the luxury car market. The company is building a strong product lineup, with additional models added to the core product segments. Through key position in performance they have improved brand loyalty and continue their focus on the â€Å"ultimate driving machine† campaign. This focus has now been expanded to position BMW as â€Å"the most exciting luxury car. † To ensure the company is focusing and satisfying on the customers’ needs, BMW has conducted extensive market research and has worked hard to make the vehicles appeal to the North American market with a wide range of products for a variety of segments and stand out amongst the competition. However, a limited marketing budget makes it difficult for BMW to effectively market to each one of these segments. BMW believes that â€Å"the future belongs to the nimble. † which is central to the cars and the marketing efforts. BMW’s mission is to be the first to figure out what the â€Å"next big thing† in marketing is going to be. Evaluation of Alternatives 1. â€Å"Milk it† – in this situation BMW would use the existing short films and try to expand them to a wider audience. This would be easy for BMW to implement as the films have already been produced. Films could be distributed to existing customers on DVD, or could be shown in theatre as a movie trailer. This option would expose to a wider audience and would promote BMW to more people, it would also reach audience who are used to the traditional TV channel or DVD viewers only, and would continue the success and awareness of the original release. 2. Develop more short films – This alternative would be expensive yet easier to implement because BMW has previous experience and resources in working with short films as a marketing tool and it may continue to build up the awareness. However, some competitors might try to copy this idea so this would not be innovative or stunning anymore. Over time, these films would lose their effectiveness as a marketing medium. Moreover, it will require substantial investment (15 million) which could be used in a different way to improve sales revenue. 3. Feature film – This alternative is one the boldest idea of being the first to market with new marketing initiatives. This is also the hardest alternatives for BMW to implement because of a huge amount of time and money associated with producing a feature film, and BMW has no experience with such an endeavor, although a feature film could strengthen the image as a market leader in the industry. 4. Do nothing, move on – This option is the easiest to implement as there is no immediate action required by BMW. The risk associated with this alternative is that a new idea may not materialize and the competition may be the first to act with new, powerful and more acknowledgeable marketing initiatives. The do nothing strategy is not consistent with BMW marketing strategy, and does nothing to strengthen the brand image or improve market share. Recommendation The recommended course of action for BMW is to â€Å"milk it† (See Appendix 1). BMW should stop creating more films and use their limited budget towards other more innovative ideas to really promote each individual model that they are planning to launch. As can be seen from Appendix 2, except Lincoln, BMW spent the least money per sold unit car among 10 competitors. BMW could consider to slightly increasing the marketing fund but spent in a different and smart way. Besides distributing films to existing customers on DVD and showing in theatre as movie trailer, we would highly encourage BMW to use their marketing budget: 1. To create internal customer appreciation support, such as having appreciation events, inviting their clients to ‘pre-launch† shows, encourage their current customers to share their BMW experience with their friends and families and reward them not with money, but with â€Å"recognition and appreciations†, which would truly make BMW a proud to be own vehicle. . To come up with more staff incentive with their marketing budget because their sales forces are the ones who market their products daily. 3. To participate and to create more kinds of award for their different lines, and add on product features to be promoted over and over again for their target and potential audience to understand what makes a BMW sta nd out more, how is it more innovative and to satisfy a customer’s need on other media channels. 4. To consider â€Å"product placement† in the movie(instead of producing a BMW movie), only if budget allows. Appendix -1 Alternative assessment form for BMW |Easy to implement |Improve brand image|Exposure to reach |Brand recognition |Monetary and time |Innovation on |Total | | | | |more people | |investment |non-traditional idea | | |Alternative 1 â€Å"Milk it†|3. 0 |2. 5 |3. 0 |2. 5 |0 |1. 0 |12. 0 | |Alternative 2 â€Å" |1. 5 |3. 0 |2. |3. 0 |-1. 0 |1. 0 |10. 0 | |Develop more short | | | | | | | | |film† | | | | | | | | |Alternative 3 â€Å"feature|0 |3. 0 |3. 0 |2. 0 |-3. 0 |2. 0 |7. | |film† | | | | | | | | |Alternative 4 â€Å"Do |3. 0 |2. 0 |1. 0 |1. 0 |0 |1. 0 |8. 0 | |nothing† | | | | | | | | Appendix -2 BMW’s competitor media spending/unit car (2001) [pic] How to cite Bmw Films, Papers