BMW drops "Ultimate Driving Machine" advertising s

[Gordon]

Advertising Age just reported this yesterday. The new BMW ad slogan is "A Company of Ideas" WTF,O!!!

G-Man

http://adage.com/columns/article.php?article_id=110963

[ponyboy]

Not a good slogan. ultimate driving machine is much better, and I just learned that solgan within the past 3 years, and so Im a newbie, and I love the slogan. It is perfect for BMW. The change is a mistake.

[Delia]

I loved the bravada of "The Ultimate Driving Machine" tagline.

As I recall, it was Bob Lutz...yeah, THAT Bob Lutz (now of GM) who was in charge of Sales and Marketing of the BMW brand in the mid 70s.

I still have a couple of old personalized Michigan plates from the early 1980s that read:

ULTIM8

Looked great on my Resedagrun 320i...

Delia

[Mike_R]

Who pays these guys? That is on of the most recognizable slogans in the auto industry. Oh well.

[brad_c-ville_VA]

did any of you fill out that marketing survey thing that was sent around. they were trying to round up 1000 bmw fanatics in 10 days or something??? anyway, one of the questions was "what do you think BMW should change their slogan to?" i, of course, answered...The Ulimate Driving Machine.

"A company of ideas"? that is just plain weak. but i can see them moving that direction with their new ad campaign. they should at least incorporate both phrases, "a company of ideas breed the ultimate driving machine", but then again that is pretty long.

stick with what works, you idiots. "a company of ideas"...touchy feely crap. our cars are nice, they won't hurt you, please don't drive them fast or they will break. what's next? are they going to change the roundel from the blue and white circle to a puppy riding a unicorn?

[Delia]

Advertising taglines can be vulnerable to some snappy caveats...

VW:

"Drivers Wanted"

Buyers Wanted? Lessors?

M/B:

"Unlike Any Other"

But still, a lot like Chrysler...

Audi:

"Keeping Ahead Through Technology"

...that's fitted to the VW "A" platform...

Porsche:

"There is no substitute"

...for excess...

Volvo:

"For Life"

Keeping FoMoCo alive for a decade.

Pontiac:

"We Build Excrement"

sorry...

"We Build Excitement"

Hummer:

"Like Nothing Else"

Clearly this is from the male point of view...

...but not "The Ultimate Driving Machine"...

...'cept maybe "The Penultimate Driving Machine."

Delia

[JOHNAHOF]

Bummer

[FL02]

*Soapbox alert: Remember the GM ad-Drive=Love, talk about a bad campaign...how is that company doing anyway...If you read Plato, you'll see that Love=God, so does that mean Drive=God, I guess so, according to GM. I think these companies take themselves way too seriously & they are not infaliable, and a few bad 'ideas' can drive a company's image down. How about VW's...why don't you take a hike, ad...or the Horrible Ford ad with the divorced Dad, telling his ex-wife and kids...thanks for spending the day with me...--->Who do these companies think their buyers are? They don't think too much of their customers, or targer market (middle America). Where do they find these ad agencies anyway...NY, LA? You can tell the same companies do all the ads, as they recycle actors & themes. Unfortunately I can hardly watch TV anymore, as I even get offended by the commercials, what do you think my reaction is to DR. 90210, Playboy Polygamy, Flava Flavs show on VH1...thanks Viacom, Disney, Hollywood, NY and LA. I think I'll read a book & work on my car, and hope TV land pulls their head out of thier fat couch potatoe flavored heiney. Sorry about the rant. New is not always better and BMW should stick with what works. Maybe they'll have a fake German scientist called Dr. C and talk about how they are a company of Ideas w/ an accent.

[Guest Anonymous]

I USED TO HAVE A LITTLE 1/2 LICENSE PLATE BELOW THE REAL

"ISETTA" PLATE ON MY ISETTA THAT READ :

" THE MINIMUM DRIVING MACHINE " . THE ISETTA STILL PRETTY ULTIMATE FOR A CAR IT's SIZE .

SERIOUSLY , THEY WILL DUMP THE IDEAS ADDS AS SOON AS THEY

FIGURE OUT THE NEW SLOGAN ISN'T HELPING THEM .

[bimmerboy]

because after all, theyre full of ideas, most of them making them less of the ultimate driving machine

[JK]

because after all, theyre full of ideas, most of them making them less of the ultimate driving machine

I second that. They want to go "luxury" and price themselves above the enthusiast market building heavy soft sedans. The newest BMW you see at an autocross (thats competitiive) is an E36! Yeah they are pushing up the power but they are heavy in soft unibodies with wood grain this and that and plenty of heavy soundproofing....Mercedes? No it's a BMW a company of ideas.

[02Nut]

Didn't BMW run an ad campaign 3-4 years ago making fun of automakers who frequently change their slogans?

I seem to recall BMW was so proud of being universally known as the "Ultimate Driving Machine".

First Bangle, now "Company of Ideas", what next?

[Madvibes]

actually, they aren't getting rid of "the ultimate driving machine" as a branding element. they are using 'a company of ideas' as a marketing tool, and i don't believe that it is intended to replace 'ultimate'.

i'm going out on a limb here (and no, not because i am working with them) to defend their vision on this one. the BMW "bible", if you will, is a book called "the rise of the creative class" by Richard Florida. it's a great book and outlines how creatives have shaped and defined out economy. BMW has adopted many of the principles that are highlighted in the book; such as the factory worker being an integral part in the shaping of the manufacturing process, not only being a robot that bolts this piece to that piece mindlessly.

I actually think it's a good thing. Not that it hasn't been done before, but you've gotta give BMW credit for adopting Ideas as a policy and allowing creativity to the forefront of their process.

[brad_c-ville_VA]

i really hope they don't drop the ultimate slogan entirely.

when i lived in saudi arabia we put a BMW roundel sticker on our toilet and called it the "ultimate shitting machine"...i'd hate to have my memories of that fine throne tarnished by having to call it "a toilet of ideas".

[Madvibes]

hey man, some of the best ideas ever were conceived on the shitter.