Let’s give the ad agency the benefit of the doubt: Let’s assume the client instructed them, “Create a radio commercial that won’t do us any good in the marketplace but which will make our dealers feel good about themselves.”
Let’s assume the ad agency knows that otherwise this is worthless and did its best to talk the client into doing something other than wasting its advertising dollars.
The spot begins by listing three “firsts” achieved by BMW, thereby leading listeners to assume they now are about to hear about another BMW automotive “first.”
What a letdown. This advertisement isn’t about automotive innovation (and how it can improve the lives of consumers). It’s a bragging message. It has nothing to do with the audience and offers no value to listeners.
Because they have nothing to say other than “look at us!” they say it twice:
“The BMW 3 series is the only car ever to have won Car & Driver’s 10 Best 22 years in a row”
is followed by:
“The legendary BMW 3 series has done it again, winning Car & Driver’s 10 Best award an unprecedented 22 years in a row.”
Yes, presumably someone got paid for writing that.
This radio ad campaign is an embarrassing waste of money that actually does more good for Car & Driver magazine (by publicizing its 10 Best list) than it does for the automobile manufacturer whose name listeners won’t be able to recall 10 minutes later.
(“Which car was that, the one on the 10 Best list a bunch of years in a row? Mercedes? BMW? Lexus? Volvo?”)
If you’re not sure what the goal of a particular radio commercial is, you look at its Call To Action. The Call To Action tells you what action the advertiser wants the targeted consumer to take.
This spot’s Call To Action?
“For complete details on BMW Ultimate Service, visit (Web address).”
1. We’ll brag about how many years in a row one of our cars has made a magazine’s Top 10 list.
2. We’ll brag about it some more.
3. We’ll tell people to go to our website to learn about our new car service plan.
Uh-huh. That’s gonna happen.
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A testimony to its ineffectiveness is that upon playing it, I realized I’ve heard that commercial many times and this is the first time I ever noticed what it said.
We’ve all heard MULTIPLE commercials similar to that, so it’s no surprise it sounds familiar…yet forgettable.
Cars don’t buy cars people.
Stop talking about the car.
Farting.
Thunder.
Sigh.