15704: The Terminator Needs A New BMW SUV…?

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Zeus in a Super Bowl commercial hyping electric vehicles from BMW. Was this produced before or after Schwarzenegger crashed his Yukon SUV into a Prius?

 

14373: BMW Picks POC + LGBT.

Advertising Age reported BMW completed its colored competition, committing to Cashmere Agency for collecting the crumbs formerly consigned to The Community. The Cashmere Agency will cover Black, Latino, Asian and LGBT audiences. Given Blacks, Latinos and Asians combine to comprise roughly 36% of the U.S. population, shouldn’t Cashmere Agency receive a proportional amount of the overall marketing budget? Cue the cricket chirping.

BMW taps new multicultural agency

Published on November 07, 2018

BMW said today it has tapped Cashmere, Los Angeles, as its multicultural U.S. agency lead after a competitive review. The automaker said the shop will handle programs aimed at African-American, Asian and Latino audiences.

“BMW’s U.S. customer base is as broad and diverse as the country itself,” said Kevin Williams, multicultural marketing manager of BMW of North America in a statement. “In addition to their expertise among the three largest U.S. ethnic segments, Cashmere Agency also has a unique understanding of the LGBTQ consumer segments — all of which will enable us to better serve our growing clientele.”

The incumbent was The Community, which said it declined to participate in the review.

Among BMW’s other agencies are Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (lead creative agency); Universal McCann (national and regional media planning and buying); and Critical Mass (digital and social media).

14288: BMW Seeks POC.

AgenySpy posted that BMW launched a review for its U.S. multicultural business, and incumbent The Community won’t participate in the pitch. Earlier in the year, Goodby Silverstein & Partners won the White portion of the business, pissing off a bunch of competitors who felt dissed because the client failed to directly inform the losers that they lost. BMW ultimately responded to the complainers like the automaker has responded to the Rev. Jesse Jackson—that is, with cricket chirping in German. Whatever. Watch for Omnicom to offer minorities from its network to be second-class citizens cultural collaborators with GS&P.

Meanwhile, the AgencySpy post inspired a comment worth repeating: “As a former ad person, why don’t clients just put out RFPs asking who wants to work for free? And I worked on the account for US Hispanic [a decade ago.]” Hey, clients aren’t bold enough to ask minorities to work for free, opting to compensate with crumbs instead.

BMW Launches Review of U.S. Multicultural Business; AOR The Community to Sit It Out

By Patrick Coffee

BMW has launched a mandatory review of its U.S. multicultural advertising business, a spokesperson confirmed today.

Another party close to the matter stated that Miami’s The Community, which has served as AOR for the brand since 2015, declined to participate.

The client rep confirmed this to be true. The review will be run internally and will not involve consultancy Ryan Roth Hayes, which oversaw the main U.S. competition that initially launched last year.

You’ll recall that GS&P beat out Hill Holliday, Wieden + Kennedy, Droga5 and Anomaly to win the account.

As with that review, this one will be driven by a procurement department based in Munich as BMW looks to cut expenses, much like its competitor Volkswagen. Last year, multiple parties close to the business claimed that this was one of the main reasons incumbent KBS chose to opt out just like The Community has done.

BMW, which traditionally works with a wide variety of agencies, spent $275 million on paid media in the U.S. in 2016; it’s unclear exactly what portion of that total was dedicated to multicultural marketing.

A spokesperson for The Community declined to comment on the news.

14079: Losers’ Lament.

AgencySpy posted on the BMW account review, stating that some of the losing agencies were upset because they learned of their failure via the search consultancy, trade press or social media. Hmmm. Wonder if the crybabies provide direct communications to all rejected job applicants. Do the leaders at the defeated shops speak one-to-one with every employee who gets laid off? Oh, and the winning White advertising agency—Goodby Silverstein & Partners—has displayed sore loser tendencies in the past too.

12182: WTF BMW.

Don’t understand this BMW campaign from Mexico at all. Suspect it would require much more than an interpreter to decipher the messages.

From Ads of the World.

9884: Mini Cultural Commentary.

Adweek reported four White advertising agencies advanced in the Mini Cooper review. The story stated multicultural marketing was “not in play.” But were any non-White shops allowed to play in the competition at all? Guess there is no Mini in Minority.

Four Shops Advance in Mini Cooper Review

Incumbent seen as one to beat

By Andrew McMains

Mini Cooper has a final four.

The finalists in the brand’s U.S. review—which sources identified as Bartle Bogle Hegarty, The Via Agency, Fitzgerald + Co. and incumbent Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners—emerged from a group of six shops that Mini Cooper executives visited. The agencies that did not advance were Anomaly and McKinney.

Final presentations for the business, which includes national, regional and dealer advertising, media planning and most media buying, are expected to take place in May, after a round of work sessions in April. Account revenue is estimated at $5 million to $7 million.

The incumbent in any review typically faces long odds of keeping the business. In this case, however, Mini is coming off of a banner sales year (U.S. sales grew 26 percent to 57,511 units in 2011) and the search was mandated by the policies of Mini parent company BMW Group. As such, Butler, Shine is seen as the agency to beat.

Media spending on the brand exceeded $19 million in the first 11 months of last year, according to Nielsen. The total for all of 2010 was about $18 million. Those figures don’t include online spending.

Not in play are multicultural marketing, Web development and CRM, and broadcast media buying, which remain at Sanders Wingo, Beam Interactive and UM, respectively.

Hasan + Co., a Raleigh, N.C.-based consultancy, is managing the search. Hasan did not return calls and a Mini representative declined to comment on the review.

7052: Seeking Diversity At BMW/MINI.

Rev. Jesse Jackson’s letter to BMW criticized the automaker for failing to participate in the annual Rainbow PUSH Automotive Project and declared, “This speaks to your lack of transparency of your business practices as they relate to diversity.”

MultiCultClassics decided to visit the BMW and MINI websites to see where the companies officially stood on the matter. BMW presented a “Diversity Pledge”—along with an awkward photo where the Black guy is standing next to a sign reading “Service.” MINI offered zero search results.

7051: BMW/MINI’s BIG Problem—Jesse Jackson.

Rev. Jesse Jackson asks BMW to explain how “No Urban Dictate” was issued

(August 19, 2009) The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, has sent a letter to BMW expressing concern over the actions of one of the automaker’s advertising agencies in issuing a “No Urban Dictate” for an upcoming BMW/MINI Cooper ad campaign. The request to discuss the matter comes after disclosure that BMW’s media buying agency sent an email to stations requesting information on ad rates, but specifically stated “No combos or urban formats” should be included.

In a letter to BMW Chairman and CEO, Jim O’Donnell, Jackson called the exclusion of urban radio stations “disturbing.” The letter also said, “This issue, along many others, continues to boycott communities of color and excludes us from participating on a level economic playing field even when we fully embrace and purchase your vehicles.”

Jackson also questioned BMW’s commitment to diversity by saying that the automaker had ignored earlier Rainbow PUSH requests for information and participation in discussions. “Because diversity and inclusion are so important to the automotive industry, each year Rainbow PUSH Automotive Project hosts a symposium whose mission and programs include a multitude of topics on diversity,” wrote Jackson. “The symposium’s purpose is to facilitate substantive dialogue, open communication on diversity opportunities, and to prevent this type of behavior recently demonstrated by BMW. However, you have repeatedly declined to participate in these dialogues.”

“This speaks to your lack of transparency of your business practices as they relate to diversity,” added Jackson.

The letter from the civil rights leader comes on the heels of a letter to BMW’s O’Donnell from the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) requesting a meeting to discuss “a corporate culture that condones discriminatory practices.”

Both NABOB and Rainbow PUSH have questioned the role of BMW’s African-American ad agency of record, The Matlock Group, and whether it was using the expertise of the agency to avoid the exclusion of urban radio stations and other African-American media outlets in the placement of advertising.

Thus far, both organizations say they are still awaiting a response from BMW executives.

7050: BMW—The Ultimate Jiving Machine.

From Target Market News…

NABOB wants to meet with BMW to discuss “No Urban Dictate” media buy e-mail

(August 17, 2009) The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters has weighed in on the controversy surrounding the “No Urban Dictate” issue in an upcoming ad campaign for BMW’s MINI Cooper line. The trade organization has requested a meeting with the chairman and CEO of BMW, Jim O’Donnell, to discuss the implications of an email from the media buying agency for the carmaker requesting information from radio stations in the Boston, Houston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. markets. The criteria stated “No combos or urban formats” should be included in the information requested.

In the letter, NABOB executive director, James Winston, wrote that the “fact that BMW/MINIs’ ad agency would be so bold as to put such discrimination in writing raises serious questions. The discriminatory avail issued on behalf of BMW/MINI raises the uncomfortable specter of a corporate culture that condones discriminatory practices, or, at best, fails to recognize the need for a corporate effort to promote diversity in your advertising practices—and in attracting customers for your products.”

The email, which originated from a senior buyer at Palisades Media Group, was shared with NABOB by Sherman Kizart, Managing Partner of the rep firm, Kizart Media Partners.

In a letter responding to Kizart’s query about the matter, Palisades chairman and CEO, Roger A. Schaffner said that the directive not to include Urban radio stations was the misguided decision of one person and not done “through any directive from Palisades Media personnel, or [BMW’s general market ad agency] Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners personnel or MINI personnel.”

”This was a single, isolated incident,” Schaffner’s letter continued, “that we have taken steps to make sure does not repeat itself in the future in any department of our company.”

Winston responded that “too many questions remain unanswered to sweep this matter under the rug.” Among the issues NABOB wants to discuss with BMW is its relationship with the Matlock Agency, its African-American ad agency of record. “Why didn’t BMW/MINI involve its African-American ad agency in these buys?” asks Winston. “When and how do you use your African-American agency?”

Others have raised questions about BMW’s advertising policies since the disclosure of the NUD email. David Honig, president and executive director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, wrote to the FCC about the implications of the BMW email and the need for enforcement of regulations adopted by the Commission to end No Urban Dictates.

”This travesty has gone on for decades,” wrote Honig. “It took 24 years for the Commission to adopt this rule even though it was unopposed—Although the practice mostly occurs under the cover of whispered oral instructions, last week MINI Cooper’s agency issued a four-market written NUD.”