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C L A S S I C
RET AIL A U T O
Sales a little wobbly?
Check the alignment.
The BMW story
illustrates how much
velocity can be
generated when a
great business
strategy and brand
strategy are in precise
alignment.
RET AIL A U T O
The BMW Story
A company’s business strategy has a far greater chance of
success if it is aligned with the company’s brand strategy.
Here’s an example of a terrific business strategy perfectly
aligned with a brilliant brand strategy:
The Situation
In the early seventies, BMW held a miniscule share of the
European luxury car market, and an even smaller share of
that audience’s mind. Mercedes-Benz outsold BMW
three to one. Mercedes established its foothold in the
U.S. market by promoting their “European Engineering.”
The Insight
When the strategist talked to BMW designers they made it very clear that their
engineering was far superior to the MBZ cars. They knew that they designed
and built cars with much greater responsiveness to the driver’s actions,
providing a better sense of the road beneath the wheels and offering
drivers greatly enhanced control.
While Mercedes, according to BMW, had a smoother ride, BMW’s tighter feel
and enhanced responsiveness gave drivers the sense that they were in complete
control, something no other brand of automobile offered.
This handling advantage was greatly appreciated by
sports car aficionados and car enthusiasts.
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Business Strategy
Understanding BMW’s unique claim of distinction, a business strategy was
born. “At Bayerische Motoren Werke, we will build highly engineered
automobiles and market them to performance-minded enthusiasts.” This new
strategy would be communicated to all of the company’s employees, strategic
partners, suppliers, distributors, customers, sales teams and marketing.
At this point, with BMW’s agency Ammirati & Puris involved in every step of
the strategy development, a brand strategy wa