Olympics Turns Advantageous For BMW & GM
BMW, the official automotive partner of the London Olympics, has won its medal. The company which provided more than 3200 vehicles to the organizers to ferry the athletes and other dignitaries, was also the sole foreign automaker which advertised on the NBC platforms. General Motors was the only domestic automaker that advertised during the Olympics. Looks like this decision by the duo on investing on advertising in London Olympics has been beneficial to a great extent. Though the exact figures on how much was spent has not been revealed, but the companies have seen quantifiable results on their efforts. BMW’s motorcycle division showcased its C Evolution, the E-scooter.
“We certainly saw a great deal of initial return, I think, on our overall advertising investment. I think just from the reaction we’ve seen over the two-week period, we’ve had a significant increase of Web traffic and that’s one of your leading indicators right out of the gate.” Trudy Hardy, BMW of North America’s marketing communications manager, said.
The American website of BMW has seen a growth of 26 percent in terms of the traffic during the Olympics. Apparently, more than half of the visitors were first-timers. Not just that, the number of people who configured the vehicles on the site increased by 22 percent. According the management, those who configure are the ones who would generally go up to a dealer and place the order. BMW also got a cool 226 percent increase in social media comments. The number of Twitter users who followed BMW increased by 300 percent during the same time. Even the BMW’s YouTube channel views increased by 250 percent. On the other hand, General Motors launched its initial advertising campaign for the new Cadillac ATS in Olympics. The traffic to GM’s site too increased by 60 percent.
One of the 5-Series commercial by BMW on YouTube got so many hits that it was decided to be played during the closing ceremony of the London Olympics.
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Source – Automotive News