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BMW Canada is introducing diesel-powered cars into its Canadian lineup for the first time in more than 25 years. A new campaign from Cundari, its agency of record, sets out to fight some negative perceptions about diesel while selling the car maker’s performance-based brand.
The campaign’s central message is that diesel lets drivers go farther on a single tank of gas. A 30-second online pre-roll ad shows a front-bumper view of a car racing down various urban and rural roads. On-screen text says “200km more,” followed by a series of key terms: curves, switchbacks, straightaways, chicanes, hairpins and performance. The final super says “Introducing clean, quiet BMW Advanced Diesel,” and directs viewers to bmw.ca/diesel.
This ad will also appear on back-of-seat displays in Air Canada aircraft.
The diesel microsite, developed by Blast Radius, lets visitors choose a city and map the distances reachable on one tank of diesel fuel versus one tank of unleaded gasoline. It also touts the company’s BluePerformance technology, which it says reduces fuel emissions.
Cundari also worked with The Media Company to produce French and English “sliding cover” executions that appeared in recent issues of Maclean’s and L’Actualité magazines. An inside cover ad shows a BMW 3-series model on a country road. A tab on the side of the cover allows readers to pull out a sliding panel that extends the road. The main text reads “You’re going to need more road with 240 kilometres more performance in every tank.”
A similar fold-out ad appeared in Air Canada’s EnRoute magazine, which the automaker touted in a press release as the magazine’s first-ever gate-fold cover. Print ads have also appeared in The Globe and Mail, showing roads extending over fake news stories.
Jo Figueiredo, account director at Cundari, said her team conducted research on the public’s perception of diesel. Compared to Europe, where diesel vehicles make up a larger percentage of cars on the road, in Canada “diesel fuel has a bit of a bad reputation. As the consumer gets more and more informed, we expect this to move forward and people will realize that BMW diesel is clean, quiet and efficient.”
To help fight negative consumer perception, Kevin Marcotte, director of marketing at BMW Canada will rely on PR and media efforts to communicate not only his brand’s specific products but the evolution of diesel-powered cars.
“There are perceptions that diesel is noisy and dirty,” Marcotte said. “Many automotive journalists who’ve driven products around the world have experienced the diesel cars available in Europe… When journalists write about the torque—the power that puts you in the back of your seat—from diesel engines that don’t sacrifice any of the performance elements that are inherent in a BMW sports car, that’s very powerful for us as well.”
