In Japan, BMW is a well-known premium auto brand, but wasn’t as established as a brand known for its innovation and progressiveness. Numerous domestic and overseas brands such as Lexus and Mercedes were vying for the luxury position within the marketplace, and showcasing the product alone wasn't going to differentiate BMW from its competition in the eyes of our target audience – the Considerate Pioneers.

In order to establish BMW as the leading premium auto brand within the Japanese market and drive brand consideration and ultimately purchase of BMW premium cars, we needed to tell a richer story that went beyond BMW’s superior product technologies.

To capture the attention and interest of the Considerate Pioneers, we negotiated a unique media deal with one of the major TV broadcasters in Japan to create a custom mini-TV show that showcased BMW’s progressive attitude during peak TV viewing time for our audience. Titled ‘GoNext’ the custom content series featured Japanese innovators who were making an impact on their respective industries – be it, music, cuisine, entrepreneurship or eSports gaming. By aligning the brand to those individuals who shared the same spirit as BMW, BMW was able to showcase how it was moving Japan forward through its progressive spirit and innovative technologies. As a result, BMW was able to connect with Considerate Pioneers in an authentic manner and establish itself as more than just a car brand, but a brand that is supporting the progressive attitude and lifestyle.

We worked closely with the TV broadcaster to handpick the list of individuals who aligned with BMW’s pioneering spirit. Most were people who weren’t well known outside of their respective industries, but revolutionizing their categories by challenging the status quo. By telling their stories through the 3-minute mini program that sat between high profile TV programming, BMW was able to capture audience attention and tell a richer story around its brand value.

GoNext launched in May 4th featuring Kyohei Sorita, a classic pianist who is challenging the classical music conventions. Since then, the weekly program has been aired featuring different individuals including flower artist Yoko Uda, eSports gamer Tokido, projection mapping artist Muramatsu and chef Shuzo Kishida.

In addition to BMW curating this custom series on TV, online branded content was created featuring these pioneering individuals with different BMW products resulting in strong linkage with the brand.

The mini-TV program has been successful at reaching BMW target audience – especially those who are younger (20s and 30s). Traffic to BMW website saw a significant increase (+13%) during and immediately after the TV program viewership driving incremental visits to BMW websites.

Branded content on BMW websites currently account for 3% of all websites traffic to BMW with 76% of those visitors being new to BMW. Branded social media posts featuring some of the GoNext individuals have also generated significant likes and re-tweets creating buzz around GoNext and BMW.

In addition, according to the Brand Tracker, people who were exposed to the GoNext content and BMW ad had +24% higher approval rate of key brand attributes such as joy, independent and pioneering. Finally, those people who were exposed were +29% more likely to ‘really like’ BMW and +31% more likely to ‘want to own’ BMW cars.