BMW Wants New Mad Men
There are two words guaranteed to cause heavy Maalox and Valium intake in the world of my (former) fellow Mad Men, and to increase billable hours at their shrinks: “Agency review.”
The client calls in the competition to present ideas. A lot of time and huge amounts of money are wasted spent in the beauty contest. Now all ad agencies of BMW U.S.A. are pummeled by anxiety attacks: BMW has called for the dreaded agency review.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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The last agency review I went thru was complete joke. The winner was already picked, the fix was in, so the whole process was just a show to distract us minions from the fact that our employer was about to write a check so large it would cost all of us our jobs. However it turned out to be such a big check it took the whole company down just 8 months later. The results: a few crappy spots that aired during Good Morning America & many jobs lost. However the people pulling the strings behind the curtain made out like bandits by padding their 401Ks on both sides of the deal. But that's what happens when the company that is loaning you considerable sums to keep your business afloat "recommends" you switch to their agency.
Having worked on several auto accounts at agencies I know first-hand what it's like to be fired by the client. I agree with JMII's comments about the winner being picked before the review is completed; that is usually the case. From a statistical standpoint, only 16% of incumbent agencies retain the account. Having said that though, IMHO I didn't like the "Joy" campaign at all and didn't feel it resonated that well with the brand's owners and/or intenders. The creative was good in some areas, but strategically I believe the agency was off the mark. Perhaps it was driven by the client, I have no idea, but it looked to me to be a better fit with a "softer," less iconic brand. BMW deserves better.
Guess there won't be much "Joy" in this for BMW's incumbent agency. That campaign sucked. BMW's Superbowl ads were sleep inducing. Off with their heads!
When BMW dumped "The Ultimate Driving Machine", they started losing their way in the US market. The "Joy" campaign may have brought a few new sales in for BMW, but at the cost of long-time brand equity and awareness. BMW reliability has never been great, but the cars have made up for that by being a freakin' blast to drive, and that's why they've sold (well, that and snob appeal for all the faux-yuppies who buy the base 328i automatic with vinyl interior). Now we're hearing talk of the smaller BMWs going front-drive. Joy, indeed.