THE 1ST KEY-SHAPED USB FLASH DRIVE

TitleTHE 1ST KEY-SHAPED USB FLASH DRIVE
BrandBMW JAPAN
Product / ServiceBMW 5 SERIES
CategoryA01. Mailings
EntrantFRONTAGE Tokyo, JAPAN
Entrant Company:FRONTAGE Tokyo, JAPAN
DM/Advertising Agency:FRONTAGE Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Toru Shinoda Frontage Creative Director
Junji Fujimori Frontage Art Director
Shuji Miyamoto Frontage Art Director
Masaki Yanagimoto Frontage Designer
Tadashi Nakamura Frontage Copywriter
Yukari Fujita Frontage Copywriter
Natsumi Yanagisawa Frontage Copywriter
Toshishige Kawabata Frontage Producer
Osamu Nakazono Frontage Producer
Yuka Fujino Frontage Interactive Director
Toshihiro Tabei Nissha Printing Package Coordinator
Shoji Bunasawa Frontage Account Executive
Hiroki Sakuma Frontage Account Executive
Akihisa Matsumoto Frontage Account Executive

The Brief

BMW wanted to approach prospective customers proactively for the car market’s busiest period from autumn to year-end. Thus, we aimed for a piece of Direct Mail with an impact that would encourage prospective buyers to open it, try test drives, consider purchases and start talks with car dealers. It became an integrated campaign. As part of an integrated campaign, the Direct Mail was delivered at the time TV and newspaper ads appeared. This was followed by the launch of a campaign site and direct emails.

Creative Execution

To encourage more people to open the Direct Mail, we put the USB flash drive in a plastic case so people would think at first glance that an actual key was inside. The USB flash drive contained the long version of the new 5 Series TV ad, which shows many refreshing driving scenes, so that people would want to try test drives all the more. Also, as the UBS drive can also be used as a regular data storage device after the ad was watched, the brand could continue the relationship with the prospective car buyer.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

The outcome was a key-shaped USB flash drive that faithfully reproduced an actual key of the BMW 5 Series, suggesting test drives and a key for the car’s future.

Results

The first key-shaped USB Flash Drive became popular with many blogs and car fans. The numbers of visits to showrooms and test drives were both up from the previous year. It even awarded Gold prize in 26th Japan DM Award, the most prestigious Direct Mail award in the country and covered news on advertising portals and magazines. In 2011, BMW 5 Series became the top-selling model in the imported luxury car category.