Speaking of confused advertising directions, BMW and its US-market ad agency GSD&M Idea City have parted ways according to Automotive News [sub]. GSD&M was responsible for the poorly-received “Joy” campaign, which BMW had adopted as a global campaign. And according to the report, BMW didn’t call off the relationship. The ad team pulled the plug because
Relationships are no longer strong with the marketing team, particularly in the wake of [BMW USA marketing boss Jack] Pitney’s death; the agency wasn’t making enough money on the account; and there wasn’t an opportunity to do the kind of work the agency had hoped to undertake.
Here’s hoping a new team helps BMW get its advertising mojo back. With Cadillac’s CTS-V going after the German sports sedan jugular with one of the best ads of the year, and luxury competition heating up in the US market, this is not a moment to get caught napping.
Perhaps BMW can get back to being “The Ultimate Driving Machine” once again, both in print and in product.
Bringing back the SVX to Subaru.. is akin to BMW bringing back into PRODUCT the Ultimate Driving Machine.
Notgonnahappen.com
Looking forward to their hiring of Juvenile for their “Back Dat Ass Up” campaign for the X6. That would make more branding sense than the mere existence of the X6, so might as well run with it.
My absolute favorite form of BMW advertising, just flash forward to the driving at 4:20, with my personal favorite bit at 4:46. Nearly 10 years on its still fun to watch.
and if you’d like more you can find the list of all eight here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hire
Having a better marketing campaign is one thing, but what would have more impact is for BMW to stop making their models so bland or ugly looking.
The ‘Joy’ campaign sucked. Maybe Pitney was the only one who liked it.
“Joy” never made sense for what BMW was trying to sell. Joy means stuff like Christmas presents, Beethoven, playing in the mud and just being a kid without any cares or thoughts or direction. But during AMLS races I get hit with commercials of the RLR M3’s destroying the track with screaming engines, in your face camera angles suggesting they’re going to take over the world screaming at you at 200 mph and then its JOY…IN YOUR FACE AAAHHHHHH!! It wasn’t as bad with the Z4 art commercial but even then the guy is talking about vision and focus and how the car realizes the art (or something). None of that is Joy, its all about being driven and focused… the things I associate with BMW. The word joy just doesn’t fit.
However, I recently found out that a BMW factory tour does indeed bring Joy. I could do nothing but watch those robots spot weld a body together for a week straight. Aimless fun with no purpose or direction, not at all like racing my M3 around Summit Point.
Even high production values couldn’t save “Joy”. It feels like Nike branding as “Comfort”. It may bring that, but it entirely misses the point, applies to anyone, etc. etc.
I’ll be curious to see if Crispin Porter ends up with some of this. They say they’ll divide it up in the existing roster, but the existing roster is not prime-time. More “the hire” creativity please.
Let’s call a spade a spade: the “joy” campaign was complete shit. The biggest mistake BMW made was ditching the “Ultimate Driving Machine” campaign because that was what truly defined the brand.
Better yet, BMW should do what Apple does and just let the products speak for themselves without slogan or tag line.
That said, I have to say that Audi’s “truth in engineering” campaign is equally lackluster, though they’ve never had a very strong brand slogan to begin with (at least not compared to “The Ultimate Driving Machine”).
Why did BMW never tell Americans they had an F1 team?
The “Joy” campaign is a product of corporate crime called an “international marketing campaign.” In 2009, BMW launched an international campaign under the slogan “Freude am Fahren.” When I saw that, my jaw dropped to the floor.
“Freude am Fahren” is “The joy of driving.” Blah. It is also synonymous with the “Fahrvergnügen” (“driving fun”, or, well “driving enjoyment”) of ancient VW lore. At least that one was meant only half serious, (at least stateside, they meant it in Germany), in the U.S., it was kept in German, and went viral as much as anything could get viral in the 90s.
“Freude am Fahren” had been around for a while before it was elevated to worldwide status. The German office of Grey Advertising (not one of the world’s hotshops) claims fatherhood. BMW must suffer from highly infectious Alzheimer. How could they have forgotten “Fahrvergnügen” when an unanimous “ja” went through the boardroom?
Anyway, the most dependable joy these days is a dishwashing liquid.
“Anyway, the most dependable joy these days is a dishwashing liquid.”
I Love it
Todd Hebert
BT Automotive http://www.barretire.com
Does anybody believe the ad agency broke it off? I think it’s a case of the old “they can’t fire me if I quit first”.
Anyway, I often wonder how some terrible ad campaigns are approved. Does one person ramrod it through a committee? Or are most people in advertising just different from the rest of us? When the latest Accord came out a couple of years ago, I must have seen their commercials on TV 100 times and still couldn’t figure out the message.
The term “Joy” from a German company makes me think of “Joy Division” , a pop band which took its’ name from an SS division allegedly in charge of providing prostitutes.