I am using some of my time out of the office this week to help my city-raised daughter gain some driving experience on some low-trafficked roads in Canada. Teaching driving is definitely a lesson in self restraint as I try to let her get the feel of the wheel without issuing an all-points bulletin for mother’s to get their kids off the streets. I’m happy to report that she is making steady progress and we have only clipped one item; the handle of an upside down plastic trash can that was a wee bit too close to our path. “What trash can?” she asked as the back right tire ran over the handle again for good measure. Not surprisingly, I have scheduled these adventures right before cocktail hour since staying outwardly calm when your insides are sweating (and your right foot is wearing away the floor board) provokes the kind of anxiety only a “stiff one” can neutralize. And don’t forget, I’m supposed to be on vacation… So you can imagine my interest when I read about a new campaign from BMW promoting their driving school. Here’s a recap about it from MediaPost’s Online Media Daily:
BMW of North America launched a print and online campaign promoting its Performance Driving School in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Creative features a shady set of people, reminiscent of the characters that taught you how to drive. The campaign encourages drivers to realize that time — and driving techniques — have changed since their first driving lesson, prompting them to visit RelearnToDrive.com. The site features videos of nine oddball characters that capture the ways people may have been taught to drive, such as Grandpa’s take on driving a car: “It’s just like driving a submarine — except the car isn’t packed with torpedoes.” Visitors can send email postcards with video to friends, letting them know about their suspect driving skills. The campaign will appear in the August issues of Roundel, Autoweek and Road and Track, and in print and online versions of The Onion. Click here, here, here, here and here to see print and online ads.
Underneath all this good humor is a wonderful Marketing for Good case history in the making. BMW’s Performance Driving School is a clear example of marketing as service, at which BMW owners or wanna bees can perfect their driving skills–skills that will help these drivers truly appreciate and optimize the performance of their Ultimate Driving Machines. I also have little doubt that those who attend the BMW driving school (in addition to becoming better drivers which is good news for the rest of the world) will become vocal brand evangelists which will inevitably drive sales down the road. Though sending my daughter to this school is not an option it might be just the kind of refresher course this nerve-shattered driving instructor needs (and if means having to buy a BMW someday, all the tranquilizer-demanding anxiety might just have been worth it;-)