A survey was conducted to analyse the brand BMW and the companies branding strategy. The survez indicated the following: Since the functional luxury market’s traditional male domination is lessening, the target market for BMW consists of both genders. Citizenship or ethnicity is unimportant. As an exporter, BMW goal is to appeal to all people regardless of ethnicity. BMW believes the positive associations (country of origin) for their brand assist them in their export markets. The survey results indicate that the BMW message is reaching their target market. Of the survey respondents, more then two thirds recalled BMW as a luxury car, nearly all recalled BMW as a foreign car, and all respondents recognized the BMW name.
BMW produces models targeting the singles market as well as models for families. The survey data indicates the attributes relating to associations with the singles market to be far weaker then those focused on the family market. BMW realizes that their target market’s financial status requires them to focus on a more educated customer, one that has completed college, and survey results confirm their success. The price segmentation BMW chooses limits its target market to individuals at higher levels of income. The market segmentation requires income levels corresponding to educated individuals and professionals. Professions of survey participants included managers and other professional’s BMW targets.
The survey also indicated respondents not targeted by BMW are interested their products. This is a result of BMW’s association as a status symbol. Our survey resulted in a score of 4.1 and 4.6 (5 maximum possible) when participants were asked to indicate agreement with the words ‘prestigious car’ and ‘status symbol’, respectively. Some of those not targeted yet interested in BMW could move into the target market through graduation from college or increasing levels of corporate responsibility.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- General
- Survey
- Target Market
- Brand Positioning
- Tools
- Brand Elements
- Secondary Associations
- Current Marketing Program
- New Marketing Approaches
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion
- Effects of Current Marketing Program
- Implementing Branding Strategies
- Brand-Product Matrix
- Brand Hierarchy
- Knowledge Structure
- Brand Awareness
- Brand Image
- Brand Outcomes
- Suggestions and Recommendations
Objectives and Key Themes
This brand audit aims to analyze the BMW brand, examining its positioning, marketing strategies, brand equity, and overall effectiveness. It utilizes survey data to assess consumer perception and provides suggestions for future improvements.
- Brand Positioning and Competitive Advantage
- Effectiveness of BMW's Marketing Strategies
- Consumer Perception and Brand Equity
- Analysis of Brand Elements and their Contribution to Brand Image
- Recommendations for Future Branding and Marketing Initiatives
Chapter Summaries
Introduction: This introductory chapter establishes the subject of the audit—the BMW brand—defining it as a manufacturer of luxury cars, differentiating between traditional and functional luxury, and outlining its main competitors. The chapter lays the groundwork by explaining BMW's focus on performance and precision and provides a brief overview of its diverse target market across various geographic locations.
Brand Positioning: This section delves into BMW's brand positioning strategy. It highlights the use of premium pricing to communicate high-quality engineering and emphasize status. The analysis shows a strong positioning achieved through consistent messaging across various survey questions, with positive associations linked to safety, reliability, and social status. However, the brand's appeal to a younger market appears weaker.
Tools: Brand Elements: This chapter assesses BMW's brand elements, including its name, logo, slogan, and packaging (implied through the car's design). While the name and logo are easily memorable and recognizable, the quantitative effectiveness of the logo and slogan remains unclear. The analysis evaluates the brand elements against established criteria such as memorability, meaningfulness, uniqueness, and likeability, identifying strengths and areas for improvement, such as transferability of brand meaning across different product lines.
Current Marketing Program: New Marketing Approaches: This section explores BMW's innovative marketing approaches, including personalized and experimental marketing. It discusses BMW's efforts in one-to-one marketing, highlighting its strengths and challenges (such as database accuracy and the potential risk of alienating non-existing customers) and examines its impact on customer loyalty. The analysis also emphasizes the use of digital marketing and interactive communication for effective consumer engagement.
Product: This chapter focuses on BMW's product strategy, emphasizing its commitment to technological leadership, innovation, and product differentiation. It examines how the product line reinforces brand equity by offering high-performance vehicles with status, prestige, and quality. The chapter also touches on the diversification of offerings, including traditional and modern sports cars to appeal to a wider range of demographic groups.
Price: This section analyzes BMW's prestige pricing strategy, explaining how premium prices are justified by the perceived value and high quality. The discussion delves into the tension between maintaining a high-end image and potentially expanding into lower-price segments with the introduction of the 1 series, highlighting the risks and opportunities involved in this strategic decision.
Promotion: This chapter discusses BMW's communication strategies, including direct and indirect communications via dealers, and innovative programs targeted at specific customer touchpoints. It analyses the effectiveness of the “Ultimate Driving Machine” advertising campaign, highlighting its success in generating brand recognition and positive associations, but also noting potential limitations in reaching certain segments of the target market. The chapter also covers various non-traditional promotional activities.
Effects of Current Marketing Program: This section evaluates the overall impact of BMW's current marketing programs, considering the "experience business" framework. It analyzes the success of traditional and non-traditional advertising campaigns in generating brand recognition and positive brand associations, while also highlighting potential limitations of the "sheer driving experience" message in certain contexts.
Implementing Branding Strategies: Brand-Product Matrix: This section introduces the Brand-Product Matrix as a tool to visualize BMW's product portfolio. The analysis details the various product lines and brands within the BMW Group and explores the implications of their brand and product mix, suggesting potential opportunities for expansion and adjustments based on competitive analysis.
Implementing Branding Strategies: Brand Hierarchy: This chapter describes BMW's brand hierarchy, characterizing it as a family branding approach and illustrating it with a visual representation. The discussion examines the relationships between the parent corporation, family brands, and individual brands, highlighting the strategies employed to protect brand equity across different product categories (e.g., Mini and Rolls Royce).
Implementing Branding Strategies: Knowledge Structure: Brand Awareness and Brand Image: This section explores the knowledge structure surrounding the BMW brand. It analyzes brand awareness, emphasizing strong brand recognition and recall among survey participants. It further examines brand image, highlighting positive associations with safety, up-to-date engineering, and status. The chapter also discusses the role of secondary associations (like country of origin) and points of parity and difference in shaping the overall brand image.
Implementing Branding Strategies: Brand Outcomes: This chapter explores the positive brand outcomes resulting from BMW's brand attitude and strategies. It discusses brand loyalty, marketing effectiveness, potential for increased margins, and channel support, highlighting how positive brand image translates into tangible business benefits.
BMW Brand Audit: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of this brand audit?
This brand audit comprehensively analyzes the BMW brand, examining its positioning, marketing strategies, brand equity, and overall effectiveness. It uses survey data to gauge consumer perception and offers recommendations for future improvements.
What key themes are addressed in the audit?
The audit focuses on BMW's brand positioning and competitive advantage, the effectiveness of its marketing strategies, consumer perception and brand equity, the analysis of brand elements and their impact on brand image, and recommendations for future branding and marketing initiatives.
What topics are covered in the Introduction chapter?
The introduction defines the BMW brand as a luxury car manufacturer, differentiating between traditional and functional luxury, and outlining its main competitors. It explains BMW's focus on performance and precision and provides an overview of its diverse target market.
How does the audit analyze BMW's brand positioning?
The audit examines BMW's brand positioning strategy, highlighting its use of premium pricing to communicate high-quality engineering and emphasize status. It analyzes survey data to assess the success of this strategy and identifies areas where the brand's appeal could be strengthened, particularly among younger demographics.
What brand elements are assessed in the audit?
The audit assesses BMW's brand elements, including its name, logo, slogan, and the car's design. It evaluates these elements based on memorability, meaningfulness, uniqueness, and likeability, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement, such as the transferability of brand meaning across different product lines.
How does the audit evaluate BMW's marketing programs?
The audit explores BMW's innovative marketing approaches, including personalized and experimental marketing. It analyzes the effectiveness of one-to-one marketing, digital marketing, and interactive communication, highlighting both strengths and challenges. The impact of these strategies on customer loyalty is also assessed.
What aspects of BMW's product strategy are examined?
The audit focuses on BMW's commitment to technological leadership, innovation, and product differentiation. It examines how the product line reinforces brand equity and how the diversification of offerings caters to a wider range of demographics.
How does the audit analyze BMW's pricing strategy?
The audit analyzes BMW's prestige pricing strategy, explaining how premium prices are justified by perceived value and high quality. It discusses the challenges of maintaining a high-end image while potentially expanding into lower-price segments.
What communication strategies are discussed in the audit?
The audit discusses BMW's communication strategies, including direct and indirect communications via dealers and innovative programs. It analyzes the effectiveness of its advertising campaigns and various non-traditional promotional activities, highlighting their strengths and limitations in reaching different target market segments.
How does the audit evaluate the overall impact of BMW's marketing programs?
The audit evaluates the overall impact of BMW's current marketing programs using the "experience business" framework. It analyzes the success of traditional and non-traditional advertising campaigns in generating brand recognition and positive associations.
What tools are used to analyze BMW's branding strategies?
The audit utilizes the Brand-Product Matrix to visualize BMW's product portfolio and examines the brand hierarchy, illustrating the relationships between the parent corporation and its various brands. It also analyzes the knowledge structure surrounding the BMW brand, including brand awareness and brand image.
What are the key findings regarding BMW's brand outcomes?
The audit explores the positive brand outcomes resulting from BMW's brand attitude and strategies. This includes brand loyalty, marketing effectiveness, potential for increased margins, and channel support, highlighting how positive brand image translates into tangible business benefits.
- Quote paper
- Marion Maguire (Author), 2004, BMW Brand Audit, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/35478
