Week 12- ( Chap.21) -BMW's Customer Relationship Management ( CRM )

In BMW the first approach into CRM was launched in 1999. It was the same at many other companies. It was mainly driven out of the IT community leveraging the new CRM applications and the call-in capabilities for enhanced business processes. As I said in the product concept chapter that BMW's success builds upon two major pillars, brand and products. One of the biggest challenges they have is: to convince the employees that they share knowledge. As you can guess, salespersons see customer knowledge as their personal assets.

Now, the company uses Siebel Automative as their CRM software. Siebel Systems, Inc., is a provider of business applications software, and it announced that "BMW North America Sales (BMWNA) and BMW Financial Services (BMWFS) have deployed Siebel Automotive in their contact centers to enhance the customer experience and increase customer loyalty and retention. BMW has also deployed functionality from Siebel Automotive's Customer- and Vehicle-Centric Service and Integrated Captive Finance solution sets, leveraging the Siebel Automotive embedded best-practice business processes, automotive industry functionality, and common customer infrastructure across business units." 

This system manage and leverages the core functionality : Siebel Sales, Siebel Service, Siebel Call Center, and related products, and builds upon it specific functionality that car companies require. 

Contact center representatives in both Sales and Financial Services now have full visibility into each customer's total relationship with BMW. A representative, for example, can see that a particular customer has more than one BMW product or perhaps has a banking relationship with BMW Financial Services. At the same time, BMW can maintain data confidentiality to meet legal requirements. As a result, customers are receiving more personalized service, resulting in enhanced customer relationships and increased loyalty. Going back to chapter 16, the task of promotion are: informing, persuading, and reminding the target customer about the products and services offered within the company, so with the appropriate IT and CRM application this task can be fulfill and bring tons of profit to the company. For example, according to Nicole Carusso, BMW of Manhattan Marketing Manager, "BMW use its CRM system and database to keep track of anything pending for a customer, supplier or partner. Calls to be made. Appointments scheduled. Forecasted sales. Potential opportunities. Outstanding quotes. Open service issues. This good CRM system has calendars, activity lists and forms so that this kind of information doesn’t fall through the cracks. It has reminders and automatic emails. It has the ability to schedule follow-ups for others in their company. Nothing gets forgotten."

Week 11-(Chap.16)- BMW's Integrated Marketing Communication

BMW is an automobile dealer that manufactures and sells a wide range of vehicles. The BMW automobiles are sold to a special target market and appeals only to a particular stratum of people. BMW vehicles are classy, stylish, comfortable and luxurious. With regard to the BMW films, which can be viewed on www.bmw.com, there are a number of reasons surrounding the success of these films. The films allow prospective customers to view the cars before purchasing them. Marketers ensured that the visitors to the site felt compelled to stay at the site. They associated each model of the vehicle to that of human attributes. For example, the BMW Formula M was described as having a ‘soul’. When consumers see these attributes, they suddenly begin to identify with these attributes, and then create an image and personality of the vehicle for themselves, by also giving the vehicles personal human traits as well. The site also offers consumers the option of customizing their own vehicle to their preference and taste. Another reason the BMW site and films have increased sales for the company is that marketers have used dynamic features for the site. The site is portrayed as a type of one-stop shopping, because not only are BMW vehicles showcased, but an online magazine is on the site. If visitors to the site do not wish to make a purchase, they may opt to view the online magazine. Marketers embarked on an intense Integrated Marketing Campaign that gave rise to increased interest and traffic to the BMW site. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a strategy used to plan, execute and monitor communication about a brand in a consistent way. In addition, the IMC is aimed at attracting and retaining customers. The marketers of the BMW site had to have extensive knowledge of the brand, competitors and target audience. Through the IMC plan on the Internet, marketers were able to use a direct marketing channel to reach it target audience. In addition, the type of distribution channel that was employed by marketers on the BMW website was to perform the facilitating function, where contact was made with buyers, the needs of buyers were matched with the product and they had ideal communication strategies to ensure effective information transfer. The success of the BMW films also include the that fact that each vehicle is presented with the possible fuel consumption information as well as the model of the vehicle that would be most appropriate for the consumer based on the model chosen and the consumer’s lifestyle. When marketers cater to the needs of customers and a positive perception of the brand has been created, the success of the product is inevitable.

Week 10-(Chap.10)- BMW's Product Concepts

I've been talking about BMW company during this project,  and what really make it been successful is its products. BMW is a global brand that has established its product all around the world. To remind you about the BMW history, BMW started building plane motors like the BMW IV six cylinder engine which achieved a world record altitude of 9,760m (32,000 ft). Then it made their First BMW motorcycle, the R32 twin. In 1928 BMW starts car manufacture.  The first car was an Austin Seven built under license. After that BMW has take for consideration to build small and sport cars. In 2001 the launched the MINI. Today, BMW Product line is very large. Here I can show their product standards
BMW
The BMW brand stands for one thing: sheer driving pleasure. Sporting and dynamic performance combined with superb design and exclusive quality. 
MINI
The MINI brand wins hearts and turns heads. MINI is refreshingly different: extroverted, spontaneous and in every respect something out of the ordinary. Ideal for a society that was young, unconventional and ready for change, the MINI Classic became a cult vehicle in the sixties and seventies. Since then the brand has lost none of its youthful charm. MINI is part of a lifestyle that is cosmopolitan and confident, ready for everything.
Rolls–Royce Motor Cars
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has been part of the BMW Group since 1998 and trading started on January 1, 2003. 
Rolls-Royce is one of the most fascinating and well-known brands in the world, the luxury motor car par excellence. For over 100 years, motor cars of the Rolls-Royce brand have stood for truly outstanding engineering, quality and reliability.
The BMW products are:
1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, 7 Series, x3, x5, x6,z4, BMW motorcycle, The Roll-Royce Motor Cars, and M Series(I am focus in this car during this project)

BMW M combines technology and expertise gained from BMW's motorsport activities and translates it for the road. BMW M launched its first road car (M1) in 1978 and the range has since expanded to include the M3 Coupé, Convertible and Saloon, the M5 Touring and Saloon, the M6 Coupé and Convertible and the Z4 M Roadster and Coupé.

Now watch this videos and you will see their concept in th

eir cars:

They also have Clothing,WOW!

Week 9- (Chap.18) -BMW's Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

BMW has many ways to market its products. From creating amazing advertisements to conducting an wonderful advertising campaign. They do everything in order to reach and remind the customers the great benefits of BMW's products. On the other hand, must important is the "Sales Promotion" they often use to create this behavior in customers. As a car manufacturer, BMW focuses on selling to retailers in a B2B condition. For that, they use training to teach retailers how to sell the latest models. In addition, BMW makes trade promotions where they show new product to several customers including retailers. Now, if you go to BMW Central store you will see that prices are less expensive. This is because there're few BMW Central store that distributes the merchandise  throughout the United States. Also, you can find more specials and services like the BMW Ultimate Service. "Only BMW offers a comprehensive suite of premium vehicle maintenance services for absolutely no cost: buy a BMW now and pay no maintenance costs for 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first". Now this statement just said a key word: " Absolutely free". 

Brand Maintenance Costs*

Acura$970.75

Audi$967.17

BMW$0

Cadillac$744.26

Infiniti$649.40

Jaguar$1112.53

LandRover$233.52

Lexus$974.22

Lincoln$922.14

Mercedes-Benz$1086.60

Porsche$1032.14

Saab$385.29

Volvo$918.93

This extra value or premium service give the customer a great deal when purchasing a BMW in one their central store. My experience is my BMW store visit was that they have a place (part assembling line & tune up and maintenance)  where you can take your BMW and they will receive and fix for you.  

Source:

2007 IntelliChoice, Inc., www.intellichoice.com. Maintenance figures shown based on 4 Years/50,000 Miles, excluding tire replacement costs.