No Motorrad USA advertisement

[podsobinski]

I have been pondering this for a few months, if not a year or so. I just got my two motorcycle magazines, Cycle World and BMWON. Again Motorrad USA has a full page ad on the back of Cycle World magazine March 2010 issue. Our magazine for BMW owners have no ad from Motorrad USA on any model any size advertisement. That kind of makes me wonder. Someone give me an explanation to that.

 

[108625]

Ahh, more (a LOT more) exposure in Cycle World? The high probability an ON reader already bought a BMW?

Gee, it's a real stumper

 

[podsobinski]

Yeah, but

Isn't that like saying, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda, Harley etc. need not advertise because readers of Cycle World already have a motorcycle. Wouldn't it be nice if Motorrad USA pay for advertising in a magazine that is dedicated to BMWs?

 

[marchyman]

Who is more likely to buy a new bike, a reader of cycle world or the reader of ON who Bitches, Moans, Whines that it's getting more and more expensive to keep the old airhead running?

(I don't know the answer to that question but assume that BMW does).

Advertising is about getting NEW riders into the dealership. The folks who already have a beemer know their way.

 

[waxer109452]

It' not back page but there is an ad for a R1200GS next to page 12 in the new issue.
Mark

 

[tinytrains]

Same reason Apple does not usually advertise in Mac World. You are just preaching to the choir. They already buy your products. Spend your money on new attracting customers.

 

[tessler]

It' not back page but there is an ad for a R1200GS next to page 12 in the new issue.
Mark

That is correct: page 13.

There will be a full page ad for the new 1200 RT in the March issue, also.

 

[podsobinski]

Now I feel better

I stand correct. Motorrad USA has a full page ad on page 13 of Feb. 2010. Now I feel like they are supporting our sport and choice of bikes. Now check out the article Cycle World did on the new S1000RR, I am a coillege professor and that is not the bike I would ride, give me the R1200GSA. . . that is all the speed and performance I need.

 

[Visian]

Advertising is about getting NEW riders into the dealership. The folks who already have a beemer know their way.

actually, advertising can also be about keeping customers in the fold.

it costs far less to keep current customers sold and buying more than it does to create a new customer.

that said, the reason that BMW Motorrad isn't in the ON every issue (they're in the Feb issue.... page 13) is because their priority is to reach & convert non-bmw owners.

they have to place ads in publications that have efficient reach, and cycleworld is probably the most efficient, even if it is far more expensive than our book.

Motorrad supports our organization in a number of other ways, and many of those ways are not cheap either. this is their strategy for keeping current owners in the fold.

ian

 

[waxer109452]

Personally I think that BMW should have also been at more of the motorcycle shows . I cancelled the Seattle show when I learned they wern't going to be there. Couldn't agree more about the GS!
Mark

____________
2008 R1200GS

 

[mika]

How big is your advertising dollar and where do you spend your dollar is an ongoing question for any business.

BMWÔÇÖs budget is finite. In the US it is defined by BMW NA sales which have been holding around 10,000 units +/- per year recently. The growth in that number has been incremental till recently. Now the decline in sales is significantly less than the market as a whole. As markets shrink companies must balance short run budget concerns with the need to generate sales.

Recruitment of new customers is expensive.
- Print Advertising: You donÔÇÖt find many new customers for the brand in a BMW centric magazine such as on you find and put yourself in front of them in magazines like Cycle World Motorcyclist and others.
- Shows: We all like shows and wish BMW would show up with its full display at everyone. The reality is that is expensive for any company to do. Return on that expenditure is low. The end result is in both the automotive and motorcycle segments companies (not just BMW) have stopped showing up at every show because the cost benefit is not there. Also keep in mind the CW ÔÇô International Motorcycle Show almost went the way of the buffalo at the height of the growth in sales for this very reason.
- Print other: BMW has done a great deal of work to have their motorcycles placed in print and in front of different market segments other than buying advertising space. The recent Wall Street Journal ÔÇÿcomparison testÔÇÖ between a BMW K bike and a Suzuki Bandit is an example of this. I find it incredibly hard to believe that the WSJ came up with that comparo article without help from a BMW publicist.

Product: The S1000RR is demanding a good deal of advertising dollars. The MOA is by nature a touring market, which definitely is not what that product is targeted to.

Customer retention, as has been pointed, is cheaper than recruiting a new customer. If your product meets customer needs it also takes less effort to retain that customer. They do spend dollars in ON.

At the time I started banging this out what no one had mentioned was online advertising. I spend a lot of time online at non BMW centric motorcycle sites. BMW has been spending more and more of their advertising dollar online as the years have gone bye. Based solely on observation and conclusions drawn form them BMW is leading with online and reinforcing with print. I may well be wrong. In addition to motorcycle sites BMW advertising is popping up online in a variety of non motorcycle areas more often than other brands.

Just before checking in on the forum I came across this timely article on the BMW SA site.

http://www.bmwmotorrad.co.za/Web/InfoLibrary/NewsIndex.aspx?id=155

 

[racer7]

Cycle Worlds circ numbers suck. Only 300K- not so good for what used to be the only significant bike publication in the US. Went badly downhill under its recently replaced long term leader. They're offering $5/yr subscriptions and revamping (not enough, yet) content, layout, constructions ,etc etc. At the price I couldn't resist but its still one of the worst publications available to me locally. They also need to retire old fart columnist Egan from both CW and R&T (good writer though he may be his content is boring in extremis)

Still, its a good place to market the new literbike as the Cycle World inevitable comparison to the J equivalents is only a couple months away and the outcome seems predictable given that early rides stress both power level and ease of riding it hard.

Not much point advertising that bike in membership pubs. Most current owners are well outside the demographic target for the new bike that BMW desparately needs to attract younger riders to dealerships. My local dealer had firm orders for 8 a week ago and is probably at 10 by now.

 

[108625]

Keeping owners "in the fold" is not a plan for growth, nor long term survival, considering the traditional BMW buyer is not getting any younger.

Introducing a sportbike, trailbikes, and a host of other steps (aggresive advertising, more power! transverse fours and twins, six cylinder prototypes, conventional switchgear, and so on) are.
Cranks will complain that they're being abandoned by the company, as they have since /5s were introduced. New blood will be attracted, but beware!
The modern, be the first on the block/must have the best/newest shiny thing/instant gratification buyer is also a very "what have you done for me lately?" consumer. Fancy new products with impressive bragging rights numbers wear out their welcome fast if the cost of keeping them around is out of line, service is slow, inconvenient and unsatisfactory, safety or reliability issues are brushed off with responses like "they all do that" or "that's a design feature", and the dealer experience feels like being taken for a bigger ride than you're getting.

Savvy, savvy, BMW? Attracting new customers is a matter of merchandise and advertising. Keeping them around comes down to the performance of your people, as much as your products.

 

[podsobinski]

Change for change sake

At 61, I seem to be having a hard time keeping up with the changes in motorcycling. BMW is changing focus and still trying to keep us "old guard" happy (I am not sure if they care about us). From airhead to oil head to hex head, I have progressed and it does seem like they get better, more powerful, more reliable and of course more expensive. I just want to see them support the sport and the die hards more then they do. Our local motorcycle shop was bought by "Harley" and we have to go to that huge dealership to find the little corner of the shop for BMW's. Times change and my riding career and support of BMW is also changing. I just need those cylinders sticking out on the sides. . .that is my security blanket.
Good points you all bring out about Motorrad of USA. . .their focus is not the "Baby Boomer" generation brought up on air heads. We just have to get over it.

R1200GSA
DR650

 

[jforgo]

Preachng to the choir

Certainly makes no sense, especially for such a relatively small manufacturer. And at 2% of compamy sales I am sure a lot of BMW corporate execs would just as soon see the bikes go entirely.
In today's market, BMW seems to be trying to create a new identity, spearheaded by the S1000. This specifically seems a bit dicey, also-ran, with all the competition. BMW really created the adventure bike market - another great leap like that may be what is needed.
Something BMW may find hard to quantify is the current impact of their free advertising by users. My airheads get a lot of notice these days - as I have even heard from dealer employees, these are truly the legendary motorcycles of Germany. The Airheads quietly campaign the brand every day. Also, all the Authority bikes make the foreign bike with the weird design acceptable to a lot of people - much as the Authority switch years ago from revolvers to semiautos fueled sales of the self loaders.
Word of mouth advertising is very low key, and powerful. Not sure if BMW knows how to expand from that - I suspect this factor is underrated by their marketeers. Execs tend to simplistically dismiss things merely because they are difficult to model and quantify; the easier to graphically model and PowerPoint, the better for such. Yet the word of mouth factor has to be subtracted in order to truly assess the impact of a new advertising campaign.

 

[Visian]

... the word of mouth factor has to be subtracted in order to truly assess the impact of a new advertising campaign.

there is an old saying in the ad biz: "I know I'm spending twice as much on advertising than I need to, but I can't figure out which half to cut."



good read: The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR

ian

 

[nelliott]

Given all of the above, why not SELL BMWON magazine to the general public. It would increase readership, may increase advertising dollars, and maybe can make a few bucks on the sale too!