BMW uses social networks to create early buzz for X1.(NEWS)

Automotive News, June, 2009

Byline: Diana T. Kurylko

BMW AG is pitching its new X1 small crossover in viral campaigns on social networking Web sites long before traditional marketing of the vehicle begins.

The X1 is being promoted on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube in an effort to click with buyers younger than the brand's typical owner.

The average age of a BMW buyer is 48. Tony Douglas, innovations manager at BMW's marketing department in Munich, says X1 owners will range from the mid-30s to early 40s.

The X1, which is based on the 1-series subcompact, goes on sale in Europe this fall and in the United States in late 2011.

The cost of advertising on social networks is much lower than traditional TV and print advertising. But Douglas says...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.