New Trends In EV Marketing: BMW Recruits "Adventurers And Explorers" As Core EV Customers; Will Convert Them Into Green Lab Rats
Do you live in the Boston, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, or San Francisco MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area)? Do you see yourself as an adventurer and explorer? In that case, BMW wants to talk to you. BMW has pegged adventurers and explorers as “front-runners of innovation and advocates for sustainability.” These are the people BMW wants to “recruit” for a “field trial” of its Active E electric vehicles.
It will be a transformative experience. You will be turned into a green lab rat.
If you are amongst the 700 “Electronauts” chosen by BMW , the Munich-based company will allow you to lease its BMW ActiveE for $499 per month for 24 months with a down payment of $2,250. You can start the recruitment process at www.bmwusa.com/ActiveE.
But that’s not all. According to a BMW press release, you also must agree to provide “car- and driver-generated data and anecdotal feedback” which “will be collected by BMW to deepen its knowledge about the everyday use of EVs and to provide actionable insights into electric mobility in urban environments.”
Don’t do anything embarrassing in the Active E car, because “once the field trial commences, information collected from the Electronauts will be made available for all EV enthusiasts and media at www.BMWActivateTheFuture.com.”
As a test specimen, you can be proud that
“the learnings from the field trial will provide direct insight into electric mobility in advance of series production of BMW’s first purpose-built, mass-produced electric vehicles, the BMW i3 in 2013 and the i8 in 2014. Concepts of the i3 and i8, the first two vehicles from the new BMW i brand, made their official North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 16 and 17, 2011.”
Don’t think that BMW gives their car just to any adventurer and explorer. BMW says that
“prospective lessees will complete a charging station consultation with BMW partner AeroVironment. The purpose of the consultation is to ensure that prospective Electronaut’s homes are capable of supporting an AeroVironment charging station and participants fully understand all aspects of maintaining and charging an electric vehicle before signing a lease. Once the consultation is completed, the prospect’s information will be forwarded to their selected BMW ActiveE center to finish the lease process.”
Scary, no? Driving an EV with the charge indicator on empty is a high stress environment. BMW must be sure that you have the right stuff. You’ll understand.
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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And the customer has to actually pay them for the "privilege"? Really?
I saw one yesterday at the dealer. It looks like a 1 series with a different interior and tires. Popping the hood reveals a motor. The sticker said 62k, and the salesman said 100 mile range. At those numbers, you'd bet your bottom dollar that BMW will cherry pick the customers to make this a success. Think of what GM did with their electric...they got the book of real world data they needed, and off to the crusher with the cars. BMW needs this data set, so they want to make sure you have a place to charge, and, I am sure, at least one other gas car. I would bet that "only car" would be enough to for them to say "no" to the lease. GM found a lot of early adopters who'd pay to drive electric....BMW, with better brand cachet, and the best targeted marketing in the business (owning an old 3, bought new, and due for replacement, gets me invited to EVERY "come drive" event in the area-even the M Power Tour....Wooo HOOO !) will be able to find fanbois who will happily give 250 words per day in driving reports AND never be late on the lease payments.