Germany: Vodafone to provide SIMs for BMW connected cars. PR.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

Vodafone Germany has inked a five-year deal with BMW to install specially adapted mobile SIMs in all new BMW ‘ConnectedDrive’ vehicles starting this summer.

The SIM will provide drivers with in-car services such as the BMW Online Services, a 24/7 personal concierge service and an emergency call function.

The deal between Vodafone Germany and the BMW Group involves fitting SIM cards within the vehicles at the assembly plant. In a statement, the operator said that the special SIM has a lifespan of more than ten years, can withstand temperatures from minus 40 to heat of 85 degrees centigrade and is coated with anti-corrosive protection.

The SIMs will also enable BMW to support ‘eCall’ - the automatic vehicle emergency call system that is being planned by the European Union. From 2015 onwards, all new cars will be fitted with latest mobile data connection and SIM card that automatically calls the emergency services in the event of an accident.

A recent study by Machina Research anticipates that 90 percent of new cars in 2020 will have some form of in-vehicle connectivity, creating a market worth about US$600 billion by this point. 

Press Release:

BMW chooses Vodafone as its global M2M platform supplier.

All future BMW series vehicles will be fitted with a special Vodafone SIM chip which links BMW up to its vehicles and provides customers with access to innovative in-car services such as the BMW Online Services, a 24/7 personal concierge service for BMW drivers, and an emergency call function. The machine-to-machine (M2M) master services agreement has a five-year term and involves the implementation a significant number of SIM cards in the vehicles.

Jan Geldmacher, CCO Enterprise at Vodafone Germany, commented, “Our services facilitate networked driving and provide a driving experience that goes far beyond conventional mobility. The cooperation with BMW positions us in the lucrative automotive sector, one of the key M2M communication markets, and enables us to effectively demonstrate our global competence.“

The automotive sector will open the door to the M2M market for Vodafone, a market that analysts say is likely to generate around EUR 9 billion in revenues in 2012. In the future, the automotive market will be even more significant for the M2M sector. One of the key drivers is “eCall“, the automatic emergency call system in vehicles that the EU is planning. From 2015 onwards, all new cars will be fitted with a SIM chip that automatically calls the emergency services in accident situations. Vodafone is a global organisation with around 200 experts which puts it in the optimum position to provide an even more extensive range of M2M services in future. Vodafone provides services via 70 wireless networks on five continents. Almost one fifth of all mobile phones worldwide are registered in one of these networks.

The Vodafone Global SIM that will be built into future vehicles satisfies the tough requirements in the automotive sector. It has a lifespan of more than ten years and can withstand temperatures of between minus 40 and 85 degrees centigrade. It also has special protection against corrosion and was specifically designed for production line manufacturing operations. The chip will be supplied on a call-off basis and Vodafone will manage the chip activation and service processes according to the car production plants’ specifications.

BMW is collaborating with Vodafone in certification and technical implementation procedures at the state-of-the-art Vodafone Test & Innovation Centre. The Test & Innovation Centre will be testing and certifying the hardware in various network scenarios and standard international network infrastructures so that BMW can maximise the availability of the ConnectedDrive services and optimise connection quality.

Source: Vodafone

Experiential Marketing: Grass Roots Marketing for the New World!

According to the Experiential Marketing Forum, "Experiential marketing gives customers an opportunity to engage and interact with brands, products, and services in sensory ways that provide the icing on the cake of providing information. Personal experiences help people connect to a brand and make intelligent and informed purchasing decisions. The term "Experiential marketing" refers to actual customer experiences with the brand/product/service that drive sales and increase brand image and awareness. It's the difference between telling people about features of a product or service and letting them experience the benefits for themselves. When done right, it's the most powerful tool out there to win brand loyalty."

When I was growing up as a young marketer, just a few years ago, this was called grass roots marketing. We would reach out into the community to allow targeted consumers to "consume" our product/service first hand. It is often referred to as a push / pull strategy. The primary difference between experiential marketing of today and grass roots marketing of yesterday, I suppose, is that a great deal of product consumption is now done online, versus in brick and mortar structures, or as was in my case, through terrestrial radio channels.

Many marketers still confuse experiential marketing with product sampling. While product sampling can be a component of experiential marketing, it is NOT experiential marketing. When sampling a product, all a consumer is doing is trying a small, free, one time "taste" of your product. However, they are not emerged in your product or your product benefits as is the goal with experiential marketing. The job of the experiential marketer is to make sure that the emersion results in a positive experience that will convert a consumer into a customer, and goes well beyond just passing out free samples.

BMW has a fantastic experiential marketing program called the BMW Performance Driving School. It gives anywone who is interested the opportunity to drive a BMW in racing conditions...which for any true car enthusiast is like an addictive drug.

What better way to convince someone on the fence about spending a little more money for a BMW, that the investment is worth it, than giving them a racing experience behind the wheel of a BMW? I imagine their conversion rates are pretty high!

Goodwill of Greater Washington is one of many organizations who are purchasing faux store fronts inside the new Junior Achievement Finance Park that is opening up in Fairfax County, VA later this year. This "store" will give the charitable agency an opportunity to introduce the true Goodwill retail experience to every eighth grader in Fairfax County before they become fashion influencers themselves. DC Goodwill, who is reinventing its retail brand, is attempting to help young consumers form positive perceptions of Goodwill Retail Stores before they are negatively impacted by other forces who simply view Goodwill Stores as old thrift shops.

Experiential marketing can be an incredibly effective tactic for building perceptions and driving consumer to customer conversions when properly executed. It also works best when integrated with other more traditional or digital marketing efforts. However, if the experience is anything less than ideal, it can also kill your efforts. Therefore, before practicing true experiential marketing, make sure that you have a tried and true formula, or you'll wind up damaging your brand more than enhancing it.