BMW Films: The Escape

BMW Films: The Escape

BMW Films has teamed up with Academy Award nominated director Neill Blomkamp (“District 9,” “Elysium”) to create an action-packed short film to promote the new upcoming 2017 BMW 5 Series.

The story centers around a young girl simply named “Five”, played by Dakota Fanning, who is the subject of seemingly illegal experiments.

With the FBI cracking down on the company responsible for such experiments, Oscar nominated actor Clive Owen plays the nameless transporter who is hired to get Five out of there. The action ensues.

Why BMW Films still works as a launch format

This is not a product demo dressed up as content. It is content where the product belongs naturally. The car is not the “message”. It is the tool that makes the story credible.

Extractable takeaway: Branded entertainment only pays off when the product is structurally necessary to the story, because that necessity makes the brand presence feel earned.

Here, “branded entertainment” means a film that works as entertainment even if you are not shopping, with the brand woven into the premise instead of appended as a pitch. Because the car drives the plot, the attention feels earned and people share it as a short film, not a launch asset.

  • Talent creates attention. Director and cast set a quality bar that feels like entertainment, not advertising.
  • The vehicle role is functional. Driving, control, and decision-making are essential to the plot.
  • Shareability comes from story. People pass it on because it is a short film worth watching, even without shopping intent.

In global high-consideration launches, long-form story formats work when they make the product feel necessary before anyone compares specs.

The brand job: make the new 5 Series feel inevitable

When a film like this lands, it does two things at once. It signals confidence and it frames the new model in an emotional territory that spec sheets cannot reach. Capability, composure, speed, control.

The real question is whether your launch format makes the product feel inevitable, not merely visible.

The benefit is not that viewers remember a feature. The benefit is that they remember a feeling, and they connect that feeling to the 5 Series before they ever step into a showroom.

What to take from this if you are launching something complex

  • Earn attention with craft. If you want people to choose long-form, it needs to deserve their time.
  • Give the product a role, not a cameo. If it does not matter to the plot, it will feel bolted on.
  • Let story carry the distribution. The strongest paid media is the one you do not need because people share it anyway.
  • Build a universe, not a one-off. Formats like BMW Films work best when audiences expect the next chapter.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “BMW Films: The Escape”?

It is a branded short action film created to promote the upcoming 2017 BMW 5 Series, directed by Neill Blomkamp and starring Clive Owen and Dakota Fanning.

Why use a short film instead of a classic launch ad?

Because story earns time and attention. It creates emotional association and premium perception that traditional product messaging often cannot deliver on its own.

What is the product role of the BMW 5 Series in this format?

The car functions as an essential tool in the narrative. It supports the transporter premise and makes the action feel credible, rather than serving as a standalone showcase.

What makes branded entertainment feel “credible”?

High production quality, real creative talent, and a story where the brand presence is natural and necessary, not forced.

What is the practical takeaway for launch teams?

If you want to use long-form content, design it as entertainment first, then embed the product so it belongs, and the attention will travel further.

Microsoft HoloLens: Elevator Maintenance

Microsoft HoloLens: Elevator Maintenance

Augmented reality leaves the demo room

Microsoft HoloLens is not only about futuristic consumer experiences. Its real power emerges in enterprise environments.

A strong example is ThyssenKrupp, which uses HoloLens to redefine how elevator maintenance is performed in the field.

Instead of relying on manuals, phone calls, or trial and error, technicians receive contextual, real-time information directly in their line of sight.

How HoloLens changes elevator servicing

With HoloLens, elevator technicians see what they need while keeping their hands free.

Technical documentation, schematics, and checklists appear as holograms overlaid onto the physical elevator system.

Remote experts can see exactly what the technician sees and guide them step by step.

This turns maintenance into a guided, collaborative process rather than an isolated task.

In industrial field service teams, the constraint is getting expert judgement to the point of work fast enough to prevent rework and downtime.

Why this matters for industrial operations

The impact goes beyond convenience. Because guidance is delivered in-context and hands-free, technicians can complete complex steps with fewer avoidable mistakes.

Extractable takeaway: When you embed expert guidance into the job itself, you turn specialist knowledge into a repeatable operating system for the frontline.

The real question is whether you can make frontline expertise repeatable inside the workflow, not whether you can ship an AR pilot.

Enterprise AR is worth doing when it removes friction from real maintenance workflows, not when it adds another screen.

  • Reduced downtime
  • Shorter training cycles
  • Improved first-time fix rates

Most importantly, expertise becomes scalable.

Knowledge is no longer locked in the heads of a few specialists. It becomes part of the workflow.

A glimpse of the future of work

This use case shows what augmented reality does best.

It does not replace workers. It augments them.

Complex tasks become easier. Errors decrease. Confidence increases. Work becomes safer and more efficient.

This is where mixed reality stops being a novelty and starts being infrastructure. By mixed reality here, I mean digital guidance and remote expertise anchored onto the physical job, not a virtual-world detour.

What to copy from this AR service pattern

  • Instrument the moment of work. Put the next step where the technician is looking, not in a manual that forces context switching.
  • Make escalation visual. Let remote experts share the same view so guidance is specific and actionable.
  • Scale expertise as workflow. Capture checks, sequences, and decision points so outcomes do not depend on a few specialists.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Microsoft HoloLens elevator maintenance use case?

ThyssenKrupp uses Microsoft HoloLens so field technicians can see schematics, checklists, and contextual guidance overlaid onto the elevator system while working hands-free.

How does HoloLens change the maintenance workflow?

It puts documentation and step-by-step instructions into the technician’s line of sight, and enables remote experts to see what the technician sees so they can guide the job in real time.

Is this only relevant for elevators?

No. The same pattern applies to any field service or industrial maintenance scenario where hands-free guidance, fast troubleshooting, and expert escalation reduce downtime and errors.

What is the measurable value driver in enterprise AR like this?

Reduced downtime, faster training, and higher first-time fix rates. The key is that expertise becomes repeatable and scalable inside the workflow instead of remaining locked in a few specialists.

Where does this pattern break down?

It breaks down when the underlying documentation is outdated, connectivity is unreliable, or remote support is not operationalized. The hardware alone does not change outcomes.

Coca-Cola: First Drinkable Advertising

Coca-Cola: First Drinkable Advertising

You are looking at a Coke Zero ad on a billboard, on TV, in print, or even on radio. Instead of just watching it, you Shazam it. On your phone, Coke Zero appears to pour into a glass on-screen, and that moment converts into a free Coke Zero coupon you can redeem at select retail stores across the US.

The premise is blunt and smart. Many people think they know the taste of Coke Zero, but they actually do not. So Ogilvy & Mather creates a campaign where the quickest route from awareness to belief is not another claim. It is immediate trial.

How “drinkable” advertising is engineered

This execution turns Shazam into a universal call-to-action layer across media. Here, “drinkable” means the ad triggers a mobile pour moment that turns into a redeemable coupon for immediate trial.

  • Any channel can trigger the experience. Billboard. TV. Print. Radio.
  • The smartphone becomes the conversion surface. Visual payoff first, then the coupon.
  • The coupon bridges straight into retail. “Try it now” becomes a physical action, not a brand sentiment.

The important part is not the novelty of animation. It is the end-to-end path from message to product-in-hand, because the Shazam trigger and coupon make the next step unambiguous.

Why this works as shopper marketing, not just a stunt

The campaign is designed to reduce the classic friction points that kill trial. In performance-led shopper marketing, the fastest path from awareness to belief is reducing trial friction and making redemption immediate.

Extractable takeaway: If you want trial, design the interaction so it ends in redemption, not in more content.

  • No guessing what to do next. Shazam is the behaviour.
  • No abstract promise. The ad demonstrates “taste” by pushing you to the real thing.
  • No delayed gratification. The reward is immediate and concrete. A redeemable coupon.

It is experiential marketing that does not require a pop-up installation or a live event. The experience travels with the media buy.

This is shopper marketing done right. It treats media as the first step of redemption, not as a detour into “engagement.”

The real question is whether your media can trigger immediate trial without adding steps or new infrastructure.

Steal this: Shazam-to-trial loop

If you are trying to drive trial at scale, this is a reusable model.

  1. One trigger across channels. Create a single interaction that works across channels.
  2. Mobile as the conversion surface. Use mobile to make the experience feel personal and immediate.
  3. Redemption, not delay. Close the loop with a retail mechanic that is simple to redeem.

Do that well, and “engagement” stops being a vanity metric. It becomes a measurable bridge to purchase.

A few fast answers before you act

What makes this advertising “drinkable”?

Shazaming the ad triggers a mobile experience that ends in a free Coke Zero coupon. It is designed to turn exposure into real-world trial.

Why use Shazam in the first place?

It provides a consistent interaction across media formats, including channels where clickable links do not exist.

What business problem is this solving?

Driving immediate trial for a product where many people assume they already know the taste, but have not actually experienced it.

What is the key CX detail that makes it work?

A simple, familiar action. One step to trigger, then a clear reward that can be redeemed in-store.

How do you prove this is more than a stunt?

Measure Shazam activations and coupon redemptions, then compare trial impact against a similar media buy without the redemption mechanic.