Download 1 sentence soundbite: Film it and they will come: how Internet films

1 sentence soundbite:
Film it and they will come: how Internet films acted like a magnet for BMW prospects and set a
new economic standard for marketing efficiency.
Management Summary:
The Hire campaign represents a bold step for a marketer into the world of branded
entertainment. No benchmarks existed to give BMW confidence that this would pay off. It was a
risk, but a highly calculated one at that. This paper demonstrates the economic rewards BMW
has been able to enjoy as a reward for their marketing courage, and for their belief in an idea.
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BMW Films The Hire
Film it and they will come:
how Internet films acted like a magnet for BMW prospects
and set a new economic standard for marketing efficiency.
A Submission to the 2004
IPA Effectiveness Awards
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Prepared by Fallon Minneapolis
and BMW
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1. Introduction
The sky is falling.
Recently, much has been written about falling TV ratings, the lost generations of audiences, and
the rise of personal video recorders, such as TiVo, which facilitate ad-skipping by time-pressed
discriminating TV viewers.
1.
2.
3.
Much has also been written about and debated over the idea of “branded entertainment,” the
marketing industry’s response to the decline of traditional vehicles. Media owners, Hollywood,
and a few forward-thinking clients and agencies are trying to figure out new models of brand
building. For these early adopters, there’s a certain amount of ‘sexiness and fame’ value in being
first with new approaches. But there’s also a lot of uncertainty, doubt, and skepticism over
whether these models yield any form of economic return on investment. In some quarters,
there’s even downright hostility towards any of these marketing innovations from people who
want to preserve the status quo.
No one ever said change was easy.
Making the economic case for innovation.
In this brave new world, there’s a paucity of factual information showing the economic value of
radically new approaches. This paper sets out to rectify that problem and to provide inspiration
and encouragement to the groundbreakers who, in this first decade or so of the 21st century, can
rewrite the book of marketing.
The groundbreaking hero of this particular story is BMW of North America. In 2000, facing a
year with no significant product introductions to drive showroom traffic, this company set a high
marketing bar, bought an “impossible” idea, and shepherded the idea through their own
somewhat skeptical system. They never wavered in their belief that it would work, despite there
being nothing even close to benchmark metrics in any industry, let alone their own.
The “impossible” idea? Using a series of short films (all under the umbrella name The Hire),
available initially only on the Internet, as the cornerstone of the year’s marketing program. This
idea required shifting significant money from media to production; to make the model work,
viewers needed to want to actively seek out these films, which meant the films had to deliver
extremely high entertainment (and production) value. It also demanded an unusual twist on the
advertising norm: using the remaining media money to drive people to the marketing, as a
means of selling more actual vehicles.
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The success of the first season of films created demand for a second season. In all, eight films
were produced and launched in 2001 and 2002. (See Appendix 1 for timeline) They are still
being downloaded and viewed today. We will demonstrate the power of this marketing
investment in two ways: as a replacement to a traditional media campaign, and as an annuity.
An incredibly efficient marketing tool.
We will show that The Hire:
• Attracted a huge audience with the right target profile.
• Cost only 56% of BMW’s traditional advertising, in terms of the brand exposure gained
per dollar spent.
• Attracted the equivalent of $26 million exposure value in additional free publicity.
• Drove up a host of key attributes and measures for the BMW brand.
• Most importantly helped BMW outperform the competition in terms of both absolute
sales growth and marketing efficiency.
The annuity effect.
The Hire has not required further investment since 2002, yet it is still working to build the
brand.
Films continue to be viewed and downloaded, each time creating another positive brand
impression.
And BMW Films The Hire is a valuable property with much pent-up demand for future
expressions. The series is available on DVD, available mostly through dealers and owners’ clubs,
and trades at good prices on eBay. BMW will soon be launching a comic-book version of The
Hire as a profit producing, brand-building venture. And other BMW Films projects are in the
works.
The crux of our ROI argument is marketing efficiency. However, this paper does suggest that the
annuity effects represent incremental value that no traditional ad campaign could hope to
generate. As you will see, we have only begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible through
branded content. The value accrued increases with time and this adds to the allure and
justification for this type of marketing model.
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2. Background
Big image and success; smaller budgets.
Though a cultural icon, BMW is a comparative minnow in the huge U.S. car market, with all its
marketing hubris. Present since 1975, BMW sales have grown to around 1.4% of the total market.
Direct primary competitors in the luxury segment are Mercedes and Lexus, although BMW also
competes with Acura, Audi, Infiniti, and even the Cadillacs of the world. It’s a competitive
landscape, but with brilliant products, a clear and consistent performance positioning,
engineering innovations and efficient (read: smaller budgets made to work hard) marketing,
BMW had been able to lead the pack in sales volume.
The period from 1998 to 2000 saw a string of successful mainstream product launches at BMW,
including a redesigned 3 Series and the entirely new X5. With weapons like these, BMW was
able to grow nicely with modest budgets, while Lexus and Mercedes had to spend more and
more just to keep up. To demonstrate this efficiency, the following chart shows that in the year
2000, BMW spent nearly half as much as Lexus in terms of measured media per car sold, and
also significantly less than Mercedes.
Media cost ($) per unit sale in 2000.
$1,600.00
$1,400.00
$1,200.00
$1,000.00
$800.00
$600.00
$400.00
$200.00
4.
$0.00
BMW
Lexus
Mercedes
JD Power, Simmons MMS
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3. Marketing Objectives
A storm brewing?
However, despite efficient marketing and all-time high sales, the year 2000 was a turning point
for BMW. Their rate of growth was slowing as both Mercedes and Lexus marketed aggressively
and stepped up their sales performance (especially with their SUVs; included in the data in
2000 for the first time, those products allowed them to overtake BMW on the J.D. Power
charts). Furthermore, BMW had no major product launches in the pipeline for 2001.
1997 – 2000 Sales and media expenditures
$250,000,000
180000
BMW Media $
Lexus Media $
160000
Mercedes-Benz Media $
$200,000,000
BMW Sales
140000
Lexus Sales
Mercedes Sales
120000
$150,000,000
100000
Media expenditures
Unit Sales
80000
$100,000,000
60000
40000
$50,000,000
20000
5.
0
$0
1997*
1998*
1999*
2000
Source: JD Power, Simmons MMS
(* Cars only. SUVs not included.)
Clearly, BMW had been efficiently marketing new cars. But what happens when you don’t have
any new cars to launch in such a hostile, competitive climate?
New product launches are an established staple of the automotive industry. They provide
predictable sales curves: exponential growth at first, then tapering as the vehicles gradually
become less competitive. (Source: IPA papers for VW Golf & Skoda Octavia)
In 2001 BMW was facing seven consecutive months through the middle of the year with no
significant launch. The back half of the year would see only a facelift on the existing
3 Series and a new engine introduction for the X5.
Despite the growing share of voice deficit and lack of real product news, sales expectations
were still bullish.
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4. The Task
As BMW NA and Fallon considered the situation, it became apparent that a complete change of
gear would be required if marketing efficiency was to be heightened and competitive ground
was to be recovered.
The challenge was clear. We needed to support the BMW brand in such a compelling way that
we could drive even more visits to showrooms without the help of new products, and in the face
of the siren songs of noisy, and increasingly effective, competitors.
From a quantitative standpoint our objectives were:
•
•
Sustain our rate of growth without product news.
Maintain our marketing efficiency.
Easier said than done.
5. The Strategic Solution
Our first clue: amazing products.
To help us tackle this challenge, we had a stellar lineup of vehicles to showcase. While a host of
other advertisers polluted the “performance” space with power claims and beauty shots of fast
cornering, BMW still offered a special, superior driving experience that few could rival.
But how could we get prospects who had never driven a BMW to take that crucial step and
experience the difference? How could we use communications to get people closer to the
experience itself?
Hold that thought.
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Another clue: deliberations in the purchase process.
The high involvement, high investment car buying process is well-documented. Product features,
product news, reviews, sizes, shapes, styles and side-by-side comparisons are all part of the
deliberation process, along with pure, simple, emotional gut feel – consumers are simply paying
far too much attention (and money) to ignore the rational side of things.
The process moves from a stage centered on emotional engagement and interest (the upper
half of the funnel) down to a more practically-based investigation stage (the lower half).
6.
Source: Allison-Fisher, Industry Standard Model of Purchase Process
The impact of traditional advertising activities is primarily on the first half, down to around the
point of short-listing (Source: Roderick White, “How People Buy Cars” Admap/WARC). In other words,
communication needs to translate to active consideration.
Now, to the lower funnel; it’s interesting to note that by 2001, we knew that 65% of all BMW
prospects were online, and that 45% were researching and reviewing their purchase options
online. We also knew that online researching was even more prevalent among the younger end
of the prospect spectrum (ages 25-40), who represent an important audience for BMW.
Source: Forrester Technographics 2001
Add to this a paradox that’s unique to BMW. Intentions to buy a BMW lead the category at the
top part of the purchase funnel; however, they fall off at a far greater rate than our competitors’
at the bottom of the funnel. To a greater extent than our competition, the purchase of a BMW is
an emotional one.
Source: Allison-Fisher
Naturally, this led us to ponder how we might maintain that strong emotional connection as
consumers progressed down the funnel.
Hold this thought, too.
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The last piece of the puzzle: targeting.
While we clearly had to reinforce existing users’ emotional relationships with the BMW, we also
needed (like every other car brand in the U.S.) to keep inching the average age of BMW drivers
down, to ensure the brand would be able to cross the generational divide and set itself up for
the future. This meant attracting more of the affluent, educated under-40s.
This is the group causing palpitations among television network executives. They lead busy lives.
They have broadband Internet access at work – increasingly, at home too. They index highly on
TiVo and other Digital Video Recorders (DVR), as well as cable and satellite services. They are
selective, very much in control of their media options. And they are definitely not watching
prime-time network sitcoms. (Source: Simmons )
In other words, they can avoid ads if they want to. And most want to. We visualize the problem
like this:
8.
The old model of communication assumed we could reach our prospects by inserting ourselves
in the middle of their viewing/reading experiences. But this consumer has inserted a wall of
control, and is quite capable of keeping a good proportion of marketers’ interruptions at bay.
What if we could find a way past the wall? Or better still, what if we could persuade our elusive
prospects to come find us?
6. Putting It All Together: The Idea
In hindsight, it seems so obvious. At the time, it seemed like a pipe dream.
We wanted to give prospects a stronger sense of the exhilaration that comes from the BMW
driving experience, as a means of encouraging dealer visits and actual test drives. It’s the kind of
exhilaration that one might feel during a great car-chase scene at the movies. BMW had
previously placed their products in James Bond movies to good effect, and both agency and
client had wondered about taking it a step further. We had a pipe dream of making a film.
Internet technology and usage trends suddenly made our film pipe dream look quite possible.
We had a channel with tiny distribution costs that was a growing source of entertainment as
well as a medium for researching new cars in the lower part of the purchase-process funnel.
We had an audience who were wired, and capable of downloading or streaming films if they so
desired. Therefore, we could showcase the BMW experience, and the cars themselves, in a
medium tied to prospects’ decision-making process.
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This idea also got us around the wall of media control in an inventive way. If we could actually
create a truly entertaining film or films, instead of BMW seeking out the prospect, we could
actually turn things around and have the prospect seeking out BMW.
9.
The trick, of course, would be to produce films compelling enough to make this all reality.
Bringing the idea to life.
The Hire was born. It was initially conceived as a package of five short films for the Internet,
shot by a variety of world-class movie directors. Three more films were added in the second
season to launch the Z4 Roadster.
10.
Season One Series Poster
Each film followed a mysterious character for hire, “the driver”, played by Clive Owen, who was
capable of getting anyone or anything from point A to point B in his various BMW automobiles.
“The driver” was the ultimate personification of BMW’s performance message. Throughout each
7- to 8-minute tale, he and his chosen BMW navigated through the plot’s dramas with few words
and effortless motion.
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The result was high-caliber, action-packed, compelling films. As a showcase for BMW’s model
lineup, it was exquisite.
Season One Directors & Movie Credits:
John Frankenheimer
Ang Lee
Wong Kar-Wai
Guy Ritchie
Alejandro González Iñárritu
The Manchurian Candidate
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
In The Mood For Love
Snatch
Amores Perros
7. The Communication Activity: Marketing the Marketing Vehicle.
11.
To drive viewers to bmwfilms.com, we required something that sounds perverse: marketing of
the marketing idea. While we believed the concept and content had word-of-mouth and PR
value, it needed a sufficiently loud kickoff to obtain a cascading effect and critical mass. A
simple concept, but one not generally applied to a piece of advertising or marketing itself.
12.
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Our approach was to market the films as entertainment, not marketing. Sell each one like a
Hollywood movie, with the proviso that you can only see it at bmwfilms.com.
As a first step, we seeded opinion leaders to build buzz about The Hire, followed by promotional,
film-style trailers to capitalize on that momentum. To continue, we:
•
•
•
•
•
•
“Leaked” news to popular Internet movie sites.
Targeted insertions at the movie-reporting industry (Hollywood Reporter and Variety).
Ran TV teasers in selective movie environments (film-driven cable networks such as A&E
and The Independent Film Channel).
Hung huge movie posters in hip, urban areas, and placed postcards in trendy clubs.
Used regular movie listings pages to list the films along theatrical releases.
Recruited radio DJs on 59 stations in 20 key metropolitan markets to generate talk
about the films.
We also ran some ultra-specialized seeding. VIP recipients of advance copies of Vanity Fair were
given the films on DVD before the official release, accompanied by an endorsement from Editorin-Chief Graydon Carter.
Finally, we entered the films in the Cannes Film Festival, causing controversy and instant
interest among the world’s top film critics.
13.
14.
Urban Launch Posters (season 2)
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8. The Results
Communications Effects:
In the following sections, we will show that The Hire series not only attracted a lot of viewers
and publicity, but it was, more importantly, a highly efficient vehicle to drive sales for the
brand—more efficient even than BMW’s previous advertising campaign (which was already the
most efficient in its class).
We will also look at some of the additional annuity assets created by this marketing model.
Measurement Tools
Given the innovative nature of this model, we built evaluation tools into our plans so we could
really diagnose what sort of impact we were having. The Internet, of course, comes ready
equipped with certain types of data – film views, time spent, and discrete users were all available
to us on server logs. In addition, we conducted an online study of film viewers (by Action
Marketing Research) to profile our audience, and make sure we were attracting the right kinds
of people.
To drill deeper into the effects of the whole films program, we set up a comprehensive pre-post
study (by Communicus). In the first phase, we interviewed 1200 BMW owners and luxury car
intenders and put them through a battery of questions about BMW and its competitors. In the
second phase, we re-interviewed 400 of these respondents and asked the same battery of
questions. We established proven awareness of advertising/films for BMW, and of competitors.
This method allowed us to isolate those people exposed to the films and to determine the
impact of The Hire on their brand perceptions, purchase intent and plans to visit a dealer.
Lastly, sales. We used luxury car brand unit sales for our efficiency calculations (revenue data
was not available even from BMW, which bundles motorcycles, MINI and Rolls Royce in its
financial reports).
Objectives were easily met. Sales growth rate and marketing efficiency both saw substantial
improvements in 2001/2.
% growth in sales
Marketing efficiency
(media cost per unit sale,
indexed to 1998)
1998
25
1999
17
2000
11
2001
39
2002
25
100
87
85
65
57
Now for the diagnostics:
1) The films attracted a huge audience with the right profile.
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To date, total film views have exceeded 63.4 million. But what does this mean for BMW’s
business, given the undeniable fact that this number includes individuals who viewed multiple
films, as well as a portion of viewers who will never have the financial means to afford a BMW?
16
The profile study shed some light.
By October 2001, bmwfilms.com had already attracted 10.64 million film views from 2.13 million
people. More than half of these film viewers (52%) were right on target—BMW owners and
Luxury Intenders (planning to spend >$25,000 within the next 3 years).
15.
Even more useful for BMW was the fact that this included 447,300 visitors planning to buy a
luxury car within 1 year: people already at the lower part of the purchase funnel.
Further, while the films did attract the affluent, educated audience that is the mainstay of BMW
sales, it also accomplished the task of exposing a younger audience to the brand.
Median age
Average income
Income over $250,000
College graduate
Visitors to
bmwfilms.com
32
$85,000
7%
61%
US Population
(Dec. 2003)
44
$38,796
2%
13%
Source: Action Marketing Research User Survey Reports, August & September 2001
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2) Brand impressions were delivered at almost half the cost of BMW’s traditional campaigns.
A fairly basic benchmark was established pre-launch to check that this new production-intensive
model was at least delivering a comparable level of brand impression opportunities compared to
a more conventional media-based ad campaign. We used the idea of a “brand minute” to
compare people’s film views with ad exposure, and assumed, for the sake of argument, that
there was no difference in quality between an ad minute and a film minute (unfair to the films,
but the only reasonable test).
Before launching The Hire, we calculated that we’d need 3 million film views to justify the extra
expense of production. We had hit not 3, but 13 million views by the end of Season One. (There
were many sighs of relief at BMW and at Fallon. So many people had told us we were collectively
crazy, and that no one would watch films by BMW, or any other marketer, on their computers.)
After two seasons of films, we had reached more than 50 million film views. On aggregate,
between 2001 and 2003, the total cost to BMW (production plus media) for achieving a minute
of brand exposure with the films was 44% less than with a conventional media buy.
Cost per brand minute indexed against
traditional advertising campaign
100
100
80
60
56
40
20
16.
0
Traditional Campaign
BMW Films
Source: BMW/Agency Brand Minute Analysis, 2000-2003
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3) BMW benefited from the multiplier effect of earned publicity.
The seeding and buzz marketing generated enormous free publicity. Thanks to our PR partners
at Rubenstein Associates, Inc. we netted a calculated value of $26 million.
Source: Sponsorship Information Services
17.
18.
The Hire exceeded all expectations for press coverage, again making it look more like an
entertainment franchise than a marketing effort.
The first season received the following attention (that we know of):
•
•
•
250+ broadcast stories on news networks including CNN, Fox Newsline, and ABC
World News Tonight, and on entertainment-news programming such as Access
Hollywood and E! updates.
750+ print stories including Time, USA Today, The New York Times, and The Wall
Street Journal.
350+ electronic news stories on sites including Business Week, Yahoo! News, and
Entertainment Week.
The tone was overwhelmingly enthusiastic:
“A decidedly unique movie premiere was hosted by an even more unique film studio at Cannes,
world cinema’s perennial showcase of all that is new and exciting. The studio? BMW of North
America…. known far and wide as one of the world’s premium manufacturers of luxury on
wheels, has entered the movie business.”
– Movie Maker Magazine, Issue 43, Fall 2001
“Startlingly effective.”
– The New York Times, June 16, 2001
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“The ultimate in new-media, high end branding has arrived.”
– Time, May 7, 2001
“**** Thrilling.”
– Variety, May 3, 2001
“BMW has struck gold.”
– USA Today, June 19, 2001
“The movies kick butt.”
– NewsMedia, May 30, 2001
Source: BMW / Harvard Business School review of media commentary
4) Imagery measures were directly improved.
On key product attributes relating to our performance message, pre- and post-tracking showed
fantastic results, particularly against younger Intenders (ages 25-44 planning to buy a luxury car
soon).
Agreement increased by factors of 23% and 85%, to the point where nine out of ten stated they
would agree with the desired image statements.
Impact On Product Attributes, Perceptions Amongst Intenders:
9/00 – 7/01 Films Campaign
19.
Has agile handling
Is Fun And Exciting To Drive
Has More Responsive Handling Than
Most….
Has More Powerful Engine Than Other….
Total
74%
91%
70%
96%
61%
93%
% inc.
+23%
+37%
+52%
25-44
63%
96%
74%
96%
52%
96%
% inc.
+52%
+30%
+85%
54%
+35%
45%
+56%
73%
70%
Source: Communicus Advertising Tracking Study, 7/01
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While the changes in these attributes are understandable given the content of the films, what
was more surprising was the lift seen in other general measures, including value for money.
Impact On Product Attributes, Perceptions Amongst Intenders:
9/00 – 7/01 Films Campaign
Offers Good Value for the Money
Is a Well-Respected Brand
Is Luxurious
Has the Latest Safety Features
Is Engineered to Protect the Occupants
Has Traction in All Kinds of Weather
Has Resp. Handling Under All Driving Cond.
Total
55%
65%
80%
94%
73%
88%
68%
87%
65%
86%
58%
71%
70%
80%
20.
% inc.
+18%
+18%
+21%
+28%
+32%
+22%
+14%
25-44
45%
78%
74%
100%
67%
85%
63%
82%
63%
85%
56%
74%
59%
78%
% inc.
+73%
+35%
+27%
+30%
+35%
+32%
+32%
Source: Communicus Advertising Tracking Study, 7/01
Control groups allowed us to exclude external factors as the cause of these shifts, with
significant uplifts noted only among those who had seen the films. For example:
Saw films ads
Didn’t see film ads
100
96
96
+85%
90
66
60
66
80
70
9/00
7/01
Has more responsive handling than
most luxury cars
60
40
21.
79
71
No change
52
50
+52%
90
80
70
100
+11%
63
9/00
7/01
Has agile handling
Source: Communicus Advertising Tracking Study, 7/01
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We saw similar increases in the brand’s personal relevance, compared to the control cell of
people who didn’t see the films.
22.
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5) Purchase-process parameters were impacted.
As hoped, the films did have an impact on decisions at the lower part of the purchase funnel.
Planned dealer visits among films viewers rose by 20 points in the pre-post period, 18 points
more than the 2 point increase noted for the control cell.
23.
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6) Those intending to buy soon were highly affected.
Our belief that the message-and-media combination might uniquely allow us to influence those
close to purchasing by using an emotional BMW message was validated.
Among Luxury Intenders, we saw big leaps in plans to visit BMW dealers after the films’
marketing period, especially among the younger group (+550%).
Impact On Purchase Consideration Amongst Intenders:
9/00-7/01 Films Campaign
Total
24.
Overall Impression
Purchase Receptivity
Purchase Consideration
Planned Dealer Visit
73%
55%
23%
4%
25-44
% inc.
90%
81%
46%
20%
+23%
+47%
+100%
+400%
67%
48%
11%
4%
96%
78%
52%
26%
% inc.
+43%
+63%
+373%
+550%
Source: Communicus Advertising Tracking Study, 7/01
Existing owners’ dealer-visit plans were also increased (by 414%), thus retaining a group equally
critical to BMW’s overall sales.
.
Impact On Purchase Consideration Amongst Owners:
9/00-7/01 Films Campaign
% inc.
Overall Impression
Purchase Receptivity
Purchase Consideration
Planned Dealer Visit
97%
95%
71%
7%
95%
97%
85%
36%
-2%
+2%
+20%
+414%
25.
Source: Communicus Advertising Tracking Study, 7/01
The films were working like a competitive first-strike, assuring BMW an early place in consumers’
purchase process.
24
7) Sales growth and ROI substantially outpaced the higher-spending competition.
The films not only worked as intended; they surpassed our goal. 2001 saw record sales with
efficiencies and growth eclipsing key competitors.
When we look at the complete sales picture over the course of both seasons, we can clearly see
the improvement in fortunes that started in 2001.
$300,000,000
300000
BMW Media $
Lexus Media $
Mercedes-Benz Media $
$250,000,000
250000
BMW Unit Sales
Lexus Unit Sales
Mercedes Unit Sales
26.
$200,000,000
200000
$150,000,000
150000
$100,000,000
100000
$50,000,000
50000
$0
0
1997*
1998*
1999*
2000
2001
2002
2003
(Source: J.D Power, MMS / HBS Review, Total media spends + BMW film production cost)
By the second series of The Hire in 2002, BMW sales had grown 74%, while Lexus had grown
42% and Mercedes had grown 35% over the 2000 baseline.
Growth in our whole competitive set (including Infiniti, Audi, Cadillac, Acura) was only 11%.,
proving that the BMW sales increases were not simply market-driven..
Source: JD Power
25
8) Already high efficiency was markedly improved.
As previously stated, prior to the films BMW led its category in marketing efficiency (in terms of
marketing cost per units sold). Using a different marketing model, with more money allocated to
production, and less on paid media, we were able to further drive down our cost per unit sale
and cost per percentage growth point. The films marketing program allowed an efficient
marketer to become even more efficient.
Unit sales (000)
% unit growth vs. pervious year
Media and production ($000)
Cost per unit sale (index)
Cost per % unit growth (index)
2000
131
11
85.2
100
100
2001
183
39
92.0
77
30
2002
229
25
100.0
67
52
(Source: J.D Power, MMS / HBS Review, Total media spends + BMW film production cost)
Additional Results: the Annuity Effect.
This paper’s primary claim to effectiveness has been made. However, this new model of
communications creates additional returns which actually increase with time, unlike more
traditional advertising campaigns, which decay after media has run its course:
Traditional advertising expectations from investment:
Impact / Return
27.
Time
26
A look at the history of total film views paints a different picture.
28.
Source: bmwfilms.com server logs, 2001-2003
At present, film views have surpassed 63.4 million. What’s interesting is that they continued to
rise, despite having had no further promotion since the first half of 2003. We have actually
logged more than 10 million views since the last promoted period, equal to the total number of
film views from the investment-intensive first season. That’s a lot of brand minutes, with no
additional investment cost at all.
Demand for the films continues to grow offline, too. More than 30,000 consumers, and
counting, have ordered the DVD from BMW. Beyond the revenue generated by this activity, it is
fair to assume some level of brand and business effect comes from these additional exposures.
Yet the promise of returns for BMW NA is perhaps greater when we consider that the films have
generated a franchise property. The Hire can benefit from merchandising and line extensions in
a way similar to The Matrix or any other popular movie.
27
Extending The Hire.
Impact / Return
???
Comics?
DVD
Season 2
29.
Season 1
Time
“Hire” comic books will soon provide a real profit stream & ROI, independent of sales effect.
A comic-book series is the first example of this. BMW and Fallon are now extending The Hire
into its first profit-orientated format: a series of 6 high-quality comic books, in partnership with
Dark Horse Comics.
The first books are due on store shelves May 2004.
The comic books are more evidence that The Hire has become a “hot” property. In addition:
• Several of the films have been aired on the in-flight entertainment network of United
Airlines.
• DirecTV established a dedicated channel for its customers to view the films.
• Through a partnership with Microsoft and Artisan, The Hire was used to introduce digital
film projection to cinemas across the country.
As with the comic books, none of these efforts required a paid media investment from BMW
(although some additional production dollars were necessary), yet they have helped with our
strategic goal of widening viewership of the films beyond the broadband set.
Interest in The Hire continues to grow as entertainment companies realize the potential of the
franchise in other avenues, such as television and cinema.
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Conclusion
It would be hubris to suggest that many of these effects were predicted during the development
of this campaign. We have been continually surprised and delighted by both the intensity of the
immediate effects, and by the scope of the annuity effects that the films have accrued.
While our business situation required an innovative solution, it is an understatement to say that
BMW NA took a leap of faith with The Hire. However, the learning from this experience suggests
that bravery can be amply rewarded.
This campaign shifted the typical balance of content-to-distribution and transformed an idea
into a property. In so doing, the marketing efficiency of an already efficient marketer was
increased, reducing cost per brand impression, cost per unit sale, and cost per growth point. As
a result, The Hire clearly helped BMW hit record sales and a substantially improved rate of
growth.
However, the real returns may not yet be fully realized. As we improve our ability to track and
measure the annuity effects of this approach, we may see them become even bigger
contributors to effectiveness for this campaign.
Word count: 4,808
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Appendix 1
30.
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