The Brief

It’s easy to sell a car, it’s harder to sell parts of a car. A small part of a big business, BMW Performance Parts runs just one print ad a year. But parts need to be seen, felt and heard to excite true petrol-heads. Unlike a dealer, we do not have a ready customer pool to reach out directly. So how can we spread awareness, increase product profile and get BMW enthusiasts salivating after Performance Parts? We turned to social media's power of referral to make them really notice the difference -- by playing a prank on BMW drivers.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

The idea is to find BMW superfans on influential forums and ask them prank friends who own stock BMW models. Working with the victims’ wives and friends, we switched their BMW with Performance Enhanced edition without their knowledge, and filmed their responses. Because Performance Parts have a noticeable difference (a louder exhaust, more aerodynamic) their responses are immediate and extreme. Once the gag was up, victims can keep their ‘pimped’ car as an excluisve weekend test drive. This authentic and entertaining video content is filmed, uploaded and shared by BMW enthusiasts on Youtube, our microsite, and local car forums.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

With international blogs like Autoblog picking up on this local campaign, in the first 4 weeks, BMW Switch videos generated over 350,000 views on Youtube alone as the No.1 watched car videos in Singapore. It also drew the highest online conversations – 71.2% compared to Mercedes Benz’s 3.52%. This awareness corresponded with genuine business results: sales increased by 35% over 8 weeks (15% beyond target) and 60% uplift in new leads. For a campaign costing only $48,000, that’s $16 per referral and $240 per lead – compared to $2,000 per lead that a print ad cost.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Performance Parts need to be experienced, not read about. The BWM Switch allowed us to demonstrate the difference between regular BMWs and Performance Editions right away through guerilla marketing so the responses are genuine and immediate. The idea of involving BMW Superfans and clueless regular BMW owners is a superior promotion method compared to a print ad as it allows us to target the right customber base, highlight product benefits and increase Performance Parts sales through direct promotion onground (the BMW switch victims) and word of mouth (filmed responses uploaded and shared by fans who are surprised by Performance Parts).