Kevin Williams is BMW Group’s head of multicultural marketing. He talked to rolling out about BMW’s marketing strategy for diverse consumers after a recent stop on the Ultimate Driving Experience tour.
Ride and drives give the multicultural community an opportunity to experience BMW on what level?
The Ultimate Driving Experience is designed to provide multicultural consumers who are luxury and high performance automotive enthusiasts, a unique, one-of-a-kind BMW experience. Most that have never driven a BMW are unfamiliar with how truly innovative and technologically advanced our vehicles are, particularly those seeking a superior day-to day-driving experience. The events are targeted to the multicultural spectrum. African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Women and LGBTQIA consumers, etc.
How important are ride and drives to BMW’s marketing strategy?
It’s important for BMW Group’s long-term brand health and growth to ensure multicultural consumers experience our brands in a similar manner as other audiences. We recognize that multicultural consumers for the most part are aware of the brand and receive our general communications. However, we don’t take multicultural audiences for granted and strive to ensure that our events and other marketing communications initiatives are welcoming and delivers the brand experience in a culturally relevant manner.
How did you come to select Chef Roblé and the other chefs that are you utilized during your ride and drive event?
Our goal was to identify and secure a well-known, well-respected celebrity chef to anchor our Ultimate Driving Experience Tour. Additionally, we sought to find a chef that was popular amongst millennials and [baby] boomers. Chef Roblé fit the bill and has been active in assisting us with securing local chefs who reflect the audience we’re engaging to participate in the cooking demonstrations … i.e., Asian chefs in Seattle, Hispanic chefs in Miami, African American chefs in Atlanta, etc.
The #the future is now, what is the meaning of this term how does it represent the brand?
With the launch of our i3 and i8 sustainable electric vehicles, we again have set the bar when it comes to innovation, technology and performance as we recognize the future and the future for BMW is now.
The ultimate driving machine and the right and drive experience unite what three key brand values?
Innovation, technology and performance.
The BMW brand is known for having a high quality product. What were the three key aspects of the ride and drive experience that you wanted consumers to come away with?
There were actually four … innovation, technology, performance and safety.
There were several different models on display. Why was it so important for people to see the range of the BMW brand?
It’s important that consumers are aware of our full portfolio as this allows them to identify the best vehicle for their lifestyle and budget.
The Mission impossible motorcycle was on-site, which everyone was excited about. What should consumers know about the BMW brand as it relates to motorcycles?
Motorcycles are a part of BMW’s successful history of making high-quality products. The attention to detail, engineering, innovation and passion goes into the development of the motorcycles.
The convertible seem to be a favorite among women. What are some of the other cars that women should consider when thinking about the BMW lineup?
Women, like men, should consider the BMW that fits their particular lifestyle and budget.
