BMW Heads to Facebook for 1 Series

Hey twentysomethings, there’s a new BMW in town: It’s the 1 Series and it starts for under $30,000 so it’s a BMW you might actually be able to afford.

That’s not actually the advertising copy from BMW but the company is using roughly half of its ad budget to push the 1 Series — estimated from $15 million to $25 million — on online media, including Facebook. On the social media site, users will get to build their own 1 series and send it to friends. The company hopes to woo new shoppers to the brand who may have never considered it before.

BMW will also advertise on Yahoo! and MSN, but the Facebook move gets our attention most. The company will have virtual road trips from one Facebook page to another. We’re not sure how that will work but the gist is to get the shopper — and his or her friends — involved and not to cram the message down their throats.

What do you think? Would an interactive ad motivate you towards a car or do you just want to see something traditional?

BMW Turns to the Web for Its 1-Series (New York Times)

Comments

[Jake]

Seems a little crazy to spend that much money on facebook and msn...

I guess they are exploring the benefits of these areas of online marketing, but makes me feel like I am in the wrong business when I could be the one convincing BMW to spend millions on free services. All makes me wonder though if BMW is getting a little scared in an online world. Which would make me laugh after reading this post earlier that proclaims that BMW would be the saviors of the PC market if they could bring their car "savvy" to computers... http://starkmanassociates.com/blogs/eric/apple-vs-bmw/