Last week, we told you about a new BMW ad that professes the company’s independence and explains what makes its cars the best. Today, BMW officially announced a new ad campaign with “unexpected elements such as all-text ads and clever copy that bashes corporate convention and compromise,” the company said. The campaign, called “Company of Ideas,” underscores the automaker’s “peerless independence and freedom to pursue innovative ideas.”
BMW’s official explanation of the ads:

The dynamic campaign is aimed at the consumers who share many of BMW’s principles: an independent spirit, a drive to challenge conventional wisdom and an appreciation for a brand’s ability to offer both substance and style. With references to everything from BMW’s award-winning Leipzig, Germany plant designed by famed architect Zaha Hadid to the BMW plant in South Carolina, the ad spotlights the fact that more than 50% of the energy used is derivied from methane piped from a land fill more than nine miles away. The “Company of Ideas” shines a spotlight on a side of the premium automaker rarely seen.
The goal of this campaign is to build demand for BMW by reaching consumers who have not historically considered purchasing a BMW while making existing BMW loyalists proud of BMW’s success story. The campaign demonstrates that the people of BMW are what make the company a Company of Ideas.
“We are eager to unveil this smart and original campaign that communicates BMW’s culture of creativity so thoroughly,” said Jack Pitney, Vice President, Marketing, BMW of North America. “BMW has carved out a unique niche in the industry by placing a premium on constant innovation and inspiration and this campaign will reveal the company behind The Ultimate Driving Machine.”
”BMW’s performance is legendary, but how they get there is an important part of the story as well,” said GSD&M president Roy Spence. “They get there through passion and inspiration – they aren’t hindered by idea-killing bureaucracy.”
The print ads are unprecedented and differ vastly from most automotive advertising campaigns with the majority of these ads being all text pieces featuring simple but bold copy without any photo of the BMW vehicle. The ads catch the eye with their strong and stunning message. Each of the pieces highlights BMW’s autonomy and commitment to protect great ideas and conclude with variations on the phrase, “to make sure great ideas live on to become Ultimate Driving Machines.” The ads include:
NO: A simple bold print ad with the word, “No” in large type confidently asserting that BMW has the ability to say “no” to compromise while saying “yes” to innovative ideas. This “all text” ad explains that BMW will do a thousand little things that separate it from all other car companies. By maintaining its independence and ability to say no, BMW can make sure great ideas live on to become Ultimate Driving Machines.
MATCH: Another print ad that features only text, challenges readers to pair luxury car brands with their respective parent companies. The accompanying text explains that not many car companies can say they are beholden to no one. As an independent company, BMW has the freedom to build cars the way it wants to build them. The company can take risks that their competitors may not be able to justify to their parent companies.
AIRBAGS: This print ad features a BMW vehicle and reiterates that ideas are valued at BMW. The ad features a BMW vehicle and tagline, “Ideas don’t have airbags to protect them.” The accompanying text explains that ideas are highly vulnerable creatures and must be nurtured and protected.
RISKY: A print ad prominently featuring a BMW 7 Series vehicle with the tag line “Not taking risks is risky” sends a strong message that only companies as open to taking risks as BMW can deliver on the promise of the Ultimate Driving Machine. For example, the redesign of the 7 Series in 2002 sparked debate when it was first unveiled. The text of this ad stresses the luxury of autonomy but points out that with freedom comes an obligation to never rest on one’s laurels and to trust one’s instincts while entering unchartered territory and striving to set benchmarks as BMW did with the redesign of the 7 Series. This ad reminds the audience of BMW’s leading-edge vehicle design.
Along with this unconventional print campaign, BMW and GSD&M have also decided upon a well thought out and untraditional media buy. The ads will be placed in lifestyle publications specific to art, design, luxury, environment, travel and sports and includes a presence in magazines such as Architectural Digest, Dwell, GQ, Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Economist, Fortune and Forbes and newspapers such as The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.
Four TV ads will air on network and cable programming, including the season finales of most of the top network shows.
The television ads will highlight the same theme as “No” print ad by portraying the kinds of personalities that create barriers to inspired thought with levity and humor. Each of these ads will conclude with a shot of the state-of-the-art BMW plant in Leipzig designed by Zaha Hadid. Hadid won the coveted Pritzker Prize in 2004 for the creation of the “Central Building,” which is the nerve center of the entire factory. The building is emblematic of BMW’s philosophy of inspiration and innovation and serves as a symbol of the importance placed on creative ideas.
OVERTHINKERS: The viewer sees images of stuffy corporate types accompanied by a voiceover cautioning them to be wary of overanalyzers who don’t see an idea’s true potential. A shot of the Leipzig plant is seen with a voiceover explaining, “at BMW ideas are everything.” The camera follows the high-tech environment and continues, “We make sure great ideas live on to become Ultimate Driving Machines.”
EUPHEMISMS: The ad opens on portraits of typical corporate people looking directly into the camera with a voiceover saying to beware of those who speak in euphemisms. The voice gives examples including, “You’ve presented some very challenging ideas.” It then offers a translation of, “I am scared of your thinking.” Another example, “Keep that idea in your back pocket” and its translation, “Your idea is about to die a slow death.” The camera again cuts to the celebrated BMW plant in Leipzig and ends with the campaign tagline, “We make sure great ideas live on to become Ultimate Driving Machines.”
BENEDICT ARNOLD: This spot opens up with a voice over saying to beware of the “Benedict Arnolds” who originally support an idea, but then turn on it the second the idea meets any resistance. The ad then cuts to the BMW plant at Leipzig ending with the tagline, “At BMW ideas are everything, and as an independent company, we make sure great ideas live on to become Ultimate Driving Machines.”
ENEMY OF IDEAS: The spot opens up on corporate businesspeople looking into the camera and a voiceover saying they are the enemy of ideas. They say things like, “Let me play the devil’s advocate,” or “With all due respect, but…” and then it cuts to the BMW plant in Leipzig with the tagline “at BMW ideas are everything and as an independent company, we make sure great ideas live on to become Ultimate Driving Machines.
05/08, 2:28 PM
posted by:
TW
The new BMW design/style maybe risky but (7 series particularly) it still has “problems”. Overall the roadster works pretty well, but the vertical line from the A piller with the oversized logo on the front fender is distracting. Remove it. Of all the new designs the 6 coupe is probably the most integrated and successful of the entire line. The new 3 coupe is more conservative than I expected. For the most part I like it. It seems to have retained some of the qualities of the previous generations. I suspect the public “uproar” on BMW design for the past few years could have had something to due with it. I feel the 5 series is simply ugly, trying too hard to be different.
05/08, 2:54 PM
posted by:
Northeasterner
I disagree with TW on 5 Series. It is true the 7-Series design was risky but it was a hit. It does have some “problems” but overall it was a great leap in area of design. The 5-Series is absolutely stunning, from every angle. Especially noteworthy is how the concave/convex shapes of the doors, fenders and etc. catch and reflect light.
05/08, 3:12 PM
posted by:
Downshift
Shouldn’t ads — and car design, for that matter — speak for themselves?
05/08, 4:10 PM
posted by:
TW
Ultimately… design is subjective. The 5 series is one hell of a drive though. Enjoy Downshift.
05/08, 4:16 PM
posted by:
Phil McCrackin
Downshift is right-on. If you have to explain your ads to people…then they aren’t good ads.
05/08, 4:57 PM
posted by:
Jon
Funny, because Bangle went on a speaking tour explaining the design of his cars:
If you have to explain your car designs to people…then they aren’t car designs.
Jon.
05/08, 5:33 PM
posted by:
mike
where can we see these ad’s???
are they available online anywhere?
05/08, 6:29 PM
posted by:
scott
I don’t think the average person thinks about the engineering that goes into the car they purchase.
Other companies are starting to bangle their cars also.
I like the new ads, I get what they’re saying.
If my oldest child wasn’t starting college soon, I’d get a new 5.
05/08, 7:03 PM
posted by:
Robert Lanzas
They have to explain their designs for all you simple people out there…
I think all the designs are very cool, they all have their own distinct look and when you see one on the road, you know its a BMW and not some other cookie-cutter copy-cat car….
Kudos to Bangle keep up the good work….
05/08, 8:09 PM
posted by:
gsh
its like an artist trying to explain to patrons the meaning behind their contemporary art. in the end, it just sounds retarded…
05/08, 8:18 PM
posted by:
Chris G.
If I remember correctly, AIG used a similar add to RISKY. Bravo to BMW for picking up on that and making their cars look like nothing else. And look! You can start to see the trunk appearing on Lexuses and Benzes and even Hyundais. I guess there is still only one company to look up to.
05/08, 9:50 PM
posted by:
VDub
I think Bangle is an automotive design hero. He has pushed bmw away from the conventional conservative styles to original and unique designs. Finally someone is moving foward with design instead of bring back retro year after year after year.
05/08, 11:07 PM
posted by:
Dean
” … underscores the automaker’s “peerless independence and freedom to pursue innovative ideas.â€?”
Here’s an idea … build attractive, reliable, affordable vehicles.
Three friends, each owning one of the last three generations, each having problems (expensive ones at that).
No ad will convince those in the know that this isn’t the car to buy. Too much hype, too little delivery.
05/08, 11:30 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
Dean, if BMW built ‘attractive (subjective, to be sure… I find BMW’s design language stunning), reliable, and affordable’… what would you have? Oh yeah… another Toyota?
You’re missing the point of BMW as a brand… that’s like telling Ferrari that their cars are worthless because no one can afford them. BMW’s are image-cars, and just happen to have the performance to back it up. Reliability is nowhere near as low as some of you make it out to be, many people find them attractive (sales speak for themselves on this one?), and if they were affordable, I can guarantee that sacrifices would be make somewhere, whether it be performance or build-quality. If you can’t sit in a BMW and appreciate the difference, then it’s not for you. Spend you money elsewhere. But don’t annoy those with different tastes with your ignorance.
05/08, 11:50 PM
posted by:
Dean
“Anonymous”, I missed no point of BMW as a brand. I know it’s an image car, and that’s all. My friends’ experiences, as well as any Lemon-Aid-type car history publication, confirm the company’s “rank” with respect to problems. If you cannot (or do not want to) see that, that’s your biased problem. Not very objective. But what to expect from a loyal, image-driven ignorant buyer.
Many people may find them attractive, but I’ll bet more do not.
Sacrifices have already been made, which you just don’t get, since that is part of their problem. But I wouldn’t expect you to see that with your biased glasses on.
Sorry to annoy you, but it is not done with ignorance, rather, fact. you, my friend are the ignorant one who cannot accept these facts. But what to expect from a loyal-at-all cost fanboy.
05/09, 1:17 AM
posted by:
Robert
Hey Dean… I’ve had 4 3-Series cars, each generation and have never had any problems beyond normal wear and tear, and have driven them to over 150,000 miles… Besides that if your friends, who obviously don’t know how to care for a car are having problems, BMW has the BEST waranty, everything is covered… Maybe they’re buying their cars used, but in that case you can’t hold that against BMW, who knows how those people cared for their cars….
05/09, 1:22 AM
posted by:
Robert
BTW, you can’t buy a BMW and expect that repairs are gonna come cheap… It’s not a Hyundai….
05/09, 4:44 AM
posted by:
Mathew
Nobody buys a BMW for reliability. Its not that it is unreliable… Its just that you might buy a Toyota (a Camry may I suggest… watching a brick wall is more exciting) instead of BMW for reliability. And… BMW are generally considered to be reliable. BMWs are not mere cars… They are statements…!
05/09, 3:15 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
this debate is always going to come down to which camp you belong to. bmw people are always going to be bmw people. ive always been a bmw fan so my opinions are slightly biased – however with the new comers such as the g35 sedan and coupe and the upcoming audi coupe the brand image associated with bmw is becoming diluted with choice. but since bmws are such a brand/image driven company the only way to truly distinguish them from the other choices available is this new design language and to ride on the sheep like loyalty from the bmw faithful or posers. with the choices we can make now to be honest id rather have the g35 coupe simply because it leaves more to the human imagination than a 3 series. as much as a benchmark as it is it comes down to personal choice and how you want to be seen as a driver. be different, buy something else; be loyal, buy what you’ve always bought; be a sheep and buy whatevers the trend.
05/09, 8:50 PM
posted by:
Lucid Dreamscape
Apparently BMW engineers/designers are very sensitive, so I will be careful what I write. The ‘91 325is(2 door glossy red) is one of my all time favourite cars regardless of price or time period. I have owned a brand new ‘92 325is. The ‘92 was a philosophy change from the ‘91. Anyway, these mere lumps of iron have the ability to change one’s outlook on life. They have the ability to inspire. The smell of the leather, the sound of the engine rpms rising, the vault solid feeling, the thought that the driver was uncatchable by a police car because of the blistering performance of the BMW, just the overwhelming feeling of pure quality. For me something like a Rolls-Royce or whatever is a car one buys for prestige with the added package of quality tagging along, but I buy BMW for the quality and seriousness of the builders. The status, prestige, whatever, is like an unshakable shadow. I don’t buy a name just for the name. BMW is comfortable. The perfect balance. Rolls-Royce is a tuxedo at a baseball game. Everybody can like what they like, but that’s my angle.
05/11, 4:53 PM
posted by:
Bangle's Angle?
BMW has been for the longest time one of the few things in life that make a person want to live. I don’t know about their current design ideas, though. Specifically Chris Bangle. Enough said.
05/12, 3:48 PM
posted by:
Smell A Conspiracy?
Forbes magazines writes that Bangle doesn’t much care what loyalist customers think about his no-talent jaundiced eye and the unbelievably stupid ugly crap he’s dumping on the roads. So, we can write what we want, then? Wait a minute…
05/12, 3:51 PM
posted by:
Smell A Conspiracy?
If the goal inside those walls is to destroy BMW…you have succeeded. Fortunately, there are other German marques to choose from.
05/12, 3:53 PM
posted by:
Get A Refund
This ass-head Bangle is not German born.
05/12, 3:55 PM
posted by:
Fock!
Chris, your glasses are stupid and ugly, get some black plastic Miklis or something, and lose the beard!