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01-18-2014, 06:24 PM | #45 |
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BMW is masterful with its marketing. Every car manufacturer does this with their higher end cars... making special editions just for the sake of juicing more marketing out of the car while stroking a few egos for owners of the SPECIAL cars. :-)
China is an important market... I'd fully expect them to tailor offerings for the market. Not sure why people can't see this. |
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01-18-2014, 07:24 PM | #47 |
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Brilliant marketing by BMW to showcase the brand in China. Just for folks that doesn't know, BMW in China is brand/called 宝马, which means "Precious Horse".
Year of the Horse is the perfect year for BMW to further enhance the brand value.
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01-18-2014, 08:56 PM | #48 |
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Smart marketing. It wouldn't work in the States whatsoever but there's enough people in China's market willing to shell out the extra for a special edition that its a smart move on BMW's part. Why would anyone want this? Let me explain:
Chinese culture in general upholds things & ideas that reference fortune and allude to cultural ideas. Even little things like phone numbers or custom license plates become a big deal (desire for the number 8) and people pay huge sums for these things. It is important to understand what the culture desires and understand symbolism and allusions to successfully market a product in a different market. It seems BMW understands the China market quite well. BMW's Chinese name, Bao Ma/寶馬, "precious horse", doesn't sound like much when translated into English but the name alone carries much positive cultural connotation. Before the days of automobiles, the horse was the primary form of transport so alluding a BMW to a horse gives it a special meaning; the relationship between the horse and rider was important in those times and now BMW marketing implies a similar relationship between the "precious horse" and the driver...clever if you ask me. The horse has been historically and culturally a favorite animal for Chinese. There's a year named after it every 12 years, much of the Chinese lexicon contains idioms referencing horses' agility & energy, and traditionally, was a symbol of the noble classes as only the rich & royal had horses for transportation, etc. Even in daily vocabulary, words often reference the horse (i.e., Roadway = Horse Road, Immediately = "on a horse"). Now in the year of the horse, this special edition not only combines the significance of the new year, but also to its own name as a "precious horse". Good move. Sorry for the long post, but understanding different cultures helps to understand different marketing strategies. Yes, Americans wouldn't give two F's about these editions and yes, it is quite superficial and unnecessary to have these special editions, but given the cultural factors and current economic environment in China, this is a smart move on BMW's part.
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01-18-2014, 10:46 PM | #49 | |
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01-18-2014, 10:50 PM | #50 |
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HA HA! perhaps there are badges on it somewhere that add additional to the headrest horsepower lol
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01-18-2014, 11:40 PM | #51 |
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Talk about beating a dead horse...
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01-19-2014, 01:42 AM | #53 | |
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Would it worked in Taiwan or Hong Kong? Probably not. Lets see what BMW has plans for the year of the cock, dog, and boar (pig) lol. Extra fat and heavy edition in 5 years.
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01-19-2014, 06:44 AM | #57 | |
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01-19-2014, 08:46 AM | #59 |
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It is just simply retarded.
BMW is looking to rip of Chinesse just for an emblem in the head rest. Plain dumb BMW.
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01-19-2014, 10:25 AM | #63 |
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01-19-2014, 10:44 AM | #64 |
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BMW is smart. The marketing strategy is simple - Give the people what they want. Retarded product for retarded customers. I'm a Hong Konger and we know the Chinese in PRC pretty well. They are mainly just like that - getting very affluent in very short time with skin-deep taste and knowledge.
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01-19-2014, 01:15 PM | #65 | |
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01-19-2014, 02:37 PM | #66 |
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I think it is 宝马 in China, right? So why do they use the traditional character on the headrests? Are these cars indeed for the HK or TW markets (where they write 馬 instead of 马) ?
EDIT: Just checked the three websites. The horse-edition is only mentioned on the BMW website for CN. Nothing appears on the front pages of the sites for TW or HK... Last edited by Asbjorn; 01-19-2014 at 02:56 PM.. |
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