BMW

BMW Christmas Safety Card

To wish customers a new year of safe driving, BMW, together with ad agency AIR and electronics company Selectron, creates a Christmas card meant to be hung in the car.

A micro-sensor is built into the card to measure driving behaviour and react with a spoken message, “Ho! Ho! Hooo! Just like Santa!”, when the car is driven unsafely. The sensor measures G-forces and reacts when the car accelerates too much, or when it brakes or drives too quickly through bends. Here, “G-forces” are used as a proxy for sudden changes in speed and direction.

In performance-focused automotive communities, safety messaging lands best when it shows up inside the driving moment rather than after the fact.

A Christmas card that behaves like a safety co-driver

This is not a decorative greeting. The card acts like a lightweight in-car safety layer. It listens for aggressive driving signals, then interrupts with a playful warning that is hard to ignore. Because the feedback triggers during the manoeuvre, it is harder to dismiss than a post-drive message.

The real question is how you make safer behaviour feel like part of the performance identity, not a constraint imposed from outside.

Behaviour change beats awareness here. A small “nudge” is simply a timely prompt that makes the next decision easier, and this one does it without turning the experience into a lecture.

Why this fits the BMW M League audience

These limited-edition cards are sent to members of the BMW M League who recently buy their car and participate in the BMW Track Days. For that audience, performance driving is part of the identity. This card nudges safer habits without lecturing, because it speaks in a tone that feels seasonal and disarming.

Extractable takeaway: If your audience prizes performance, frame safety as a co-driver that protects the fun, and deliver the correction in their own tone at the moment it matters.

The pattern to steal

Measure the behaviour directly. Choose one behaviour you want to influence and measure it directly.
Put the intervention where it lives. Embed the intervention into a physical object people will actually place in the environment.
Correct in the moment. Trigger feedback at the exact moment of behaviour, not later in an email or app.
Make correction socially acceptable. Use a tone that makes the correction acceptable, so people do not reject it on instinct.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the BMW Christmas Safety Card?

A Christmas card designed to hang in a car, with a built-in micro-sensor that detects unsafe driving and plays a Santa-style voice warning.

What does the sensor measure?

G-forces. It reacts to strong acceleration, hard braking, and taking bends too quickly.

Who receives these cards?

Members of the BMW M League who recently buy their car and participate in the BMW Track Days.

What is the core idea?

Turn a seasonal greeting into an in-car behavioural nudge that activates in the moment.

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.

IAA 2013: Walk of Innovations

The 65th Internationale Automobil Ausstellung (IAA) has been running in Frankfurt am Main for the past two weeks. So on Saturday I decided to go for the motor show to catch up on the latest cars and also see first hand the much anticipated Nissan Nismo Watch.

Most of the car makers in this year’s show were also present in IAA 2011. In fact they were even located in the same stands as 2011, with the same high tech touch displays to promote their cars. The difference was that their 2013 car models were now more hybrid and or electric only, for example this new four seater Smart.

What changed on the floor

While I walked around and looked for changes vis-à-vis what was shown in IAA 2011, I noticed that apart from the now expected large screens and touch displays, car makers were using all kinds of social media to engage with their visitors.

Engagement snapshots by brand

Here is a quick photo report of my engagement experiences with the various car makers.

Audi

To make sure I did not miss Audi this year due to 200+ people standing in line to get into the Audi stand, I decided to visit very early in the morning. The line was short, but there were already hundreds of people inside. On walking in, I noticed that the concept for the stand was taken straight out of the Hollywood movie “Upside Down”.

Visitor engagement at the stand was driven through a special photo booth. While people waited in line they got an iPad to play a game and answer three questions about Audi. Winners got custom giveaways like keychains, gummy bears, etc. After that, visitors were ushered into the photo booth which superimposed the photos onto custom Audi backgrounds. Visitors could take home a printed copy and later also download soft copies from www.audiphotoautomat.com.

Mercedes

Next stop was the Mercedes stand which was also impossible to get into in 2011. From the below picture you can see why.

Mercedes put up a huge multi-sensory show that went on for over 20 minutes, while thousands of people just stopped and watched. Children visiting the stand were kept busy with car simulators.

Outside the stand one could test drive the Mercedes off-road jeeps with the help of trained drivers.

Hyundai

Hyundai was the first car brand I came across that was using the event to generate Facebook fans. For liking the Hyundai Facebook page, fans at IAA could win a Hyundai i30.

The rear windscreen of the i30 was converted into a touchscreen which people could use to instantly “Like” the brand’s Facebook page or choose to receive the fan page link via email.

At the stand Hyundai also displayed a touchable music seat for hearing impaired drivers which vibrated as per the music being played. This was still in concept phase and the test seats were being developed out of Korea.

Volkswagen

The Volkswagen “Think Blue” initiative was presented via an interactive augmented reality layer that was activated through the provided iPads.

Skoda

Skoda explained their Green Line initiative via a wooden toy car that was supported by the animations in the embedded touch screens.

At the neighbouring table kids were engaged with games around the Green Line initiative.

Michelin

At the Michelin stand, visitors could take pictures with a virtual Michelin mascot and have the pictures emailed to themselves instantly.

Nissan

After having written about the Nissan Nismo Watch last week, I could not wait to see the real watch in action. But to my disappointment the watch was not there as announced. There was only a plastic dummy on display.

But I did take Nissan’s version of real life “Likes” for a spin (first spotted at the Renault stand in the 2011 Amsterdam Motor Show).

The RFID badges allowed visitors to post custom Nissan branded pictures of themselves onto Facebook.

Visitors were also given the option to share the cars they like on Facebook via special Like buttons built into the car info pillars.

Ford

At the Ford stand this year visitors were given head and shoulder massages.

Then to experience the Ford EcoBoost, visitors were put in front of a leaf blower and their reactions captured and uploaded on the Ford Flickr channel.

And for the more social visitors, Ford had a Twitter based contest running.

Kia

At Kia, visitors could superimpose their heads onto a football player and then have the custom postcard sent to their email IDs.

Chevrolet

Visitors at the stand could make small flipbooks of themselves doing funny dances in front of the main character of the Hollywood film “Turbo”.

Or they could write special messages to their loved ones on a piece of paper and the team at Chevrolet would instantly convert them into wearable badges.

Chevrolet was also the only car maker at the IAA who was using Foursquare to offer discounts on their show merchandise.

Mini

Mini this year gave visitors the option to body paint their cars and email the photos to themselves.

Visitors could also slide down a specially created tunnel at record speeds that were also photographed and displayed on a large overhead digital screen.

BMW, like Mercedes, put up a multi-sensory show at their stand. But compared to Mercedes it was short and not as extravagant. Still pretty impressive.

Kumho Tyres

On the way out I spotted Kumho Tyres giving away various petrol and tyre related coupons. To win the coupons visitors had to catch them while being closed inside a wind cabin.

Why this direction matters

Across the stands, the consistent pattern is not “more screens”. It is more reasons to create something. A photo. A badge. A flipbook. A posted image. A public interaction that becomes proof you were there. The stand stops being a catalogue, and starts behaving like a content studio that rewards participation. The real question is how a stand turns a visitor into a willing participant and publisher. The strongest stands here are the ones that give people something to make, not just something to look at. That works because visitors are more likely to remember, share, and talk about an experience when they leave with something they helped create.

Extractable takeaway: If you are designing for an event, do not start with channels. Start with a social object, meaning a photo, badge, flipbook, or other shareable artifact people can take away, share, or replay. Then build the simplest capture and distribution loop around it.

In large European trade shows, brands increasingly treat the stand as a live media channel where every interaction can become a shareable moment.

And that was a quick overview of what I experienced at the 65th Internationale Automobil Ausstellung. (To read about my experience at the 2011 show, click here.)

Until the next show in 2 years. This is Sunil signing off from IAA 2013.

What to steal from IAA 2013 for your next show

Queue utility. If people must wait, give them something to do that feeds the experience (Audi’s iPad game and questions).
Instant takeaways. Printed photos, emailed images, and small artifacts create memory and sharing triggers.
Low-friction publishing. RFID, built-in Like buttons, and email delivery reduce the “I’ll do it later” drop-off.
Make participation visible. Leaderboards, overhead screens, or public displays turn individual actions into crowd energy.
Match the mechanic to the brand truth. Eco themes paired with AR explainers, performance themes paired with physical challenges.

A few fast answers before you act

What is this IAA 2013 “walk of innovations” about?

It is a photo report from the IAA show floor in Frankfurt, focused on how different car brands used interactive touchpoints and social mechanics to engage visitors.

What is the main shift versus earlier shows?

Beyond large screens and touch displays, more stands are designed around capture and sharing, photo booths, RFID check-ins, instant email delivery, and social prompts.

Which engagement mechanics show up repeatedly?

Instant content creation (photos, flipbooks), low-friction sharing (RFID, embedded Like buttons), and public spectacle (multi-sensory shows, overhead displays).

What is the practical lesson for event marketers?

Design one clear participatory moment that produces a social object, then remove friction from capture and delivery so visitors can share immediately.

How do you keep these activations from feeling gimmicky?

Anchor the mechanic to a brand truth, and make the output useful or delightful for the visitor, not only promotional for the brand.