Trevor Young | PR Warrior blog | Where PR meets social media meets content marketing

BMW Activates the Future Through Film

This week BMW (though its documentary production division) launches Activate the Future, a series of four films about the future of mobility.

This is a pretty cool PR project for several reasons.

Rather than simply banging on about their products, BMW is actually taking the high road and giving its customers (and potential customers) - plus the media and other influencers - something interesting and thought-provoking to talk about.

In other words, the brand is facilitating the conversation about what the future might look like as it pertains to mobility (thus ensuring relevance to BMW).

Progressive thought-leader

Importantly the films aren't about BMW but major issues facing the world. By driving such a project BMW effectively strengthens its positioning as a progressive thought-leader and therefore continues to build brand equity around performance and the whole notion of future excellence.

And unlike a one-off ad campaign, this film package is 'evergreen' content - it will hang around on the web and be shared and discussed and commented upon for some time to come thus providing BMW with enduring PR value.

This, from the project's website:

The film aims to take audiences to a place they’ve truly never been: the future. From the minds of some of the most influential scientists, academics, pioneers, and entrepreneurs of our time, this four-part documentary paints a unique picture of technology, culture, cities, our past, present and how it all relates to the future of mobility.

The first Activate the Future film will be released on February 1, with subsequent releases each week for the month. 

 

What Brands Can Learn From U2

I've just seen (experienced?) the fantastic new movie U23D, the first live-action film shot and exhibited in breakthrough digital 3D.

Essentially, it's a concert movie. No fluff, no vox pops or interviews - just fantastic music and on-stage theatrics by Irish supergroup U2. Highly recommended!

Now, I might be biased seeing I've followed the band from its early recordings - remember Boy, October and War (1980-83)? - but I reckon that consumer brands the world over could learn a thing or two from U2.

And in saying that, I believe U2 is one of the most successful and enduring brands in the world. Not just music brands, but brands period!

Firstly, the band has been going for close to 30 years - not a bad effort in an industry where the release of one album is considered a 'career'. And rather than being reduced to a group of punch-drunk musos grinding out their long-forgotten former hits in some seedy bar in Soho, U2 is very much at the peak of its game and has never been more popular.

Secondly, the band is progressive. It's taken countless risks over the years, including significant experimentation during the nineties with albums such as Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop (1991-97). All the great brands take risks - it keeps them fresh and energised, and helps raise them above the pack.

The band pays considerable attention to the quality of its output, not just albums, but also its massive live shows. The U23D movie is case in point. Not content with doing just another big-release concert movie, U2 goes yet another step further than its contemporaries (with perhaps the exception of the Rolling Stones) and creates a a filmic event.

Toss in the band's cause-related activities (e.g. Bono's RED campaign to raise money to fight AIDS) and its use of social networks, and you have a b(r)and that truly 'gets it'.