The Long Way to Madison and 23rd
The initial code name for BMW’s Hire Film Series was the “Big Idea.”
It was big for so many reasons. It accomplished a laundry list of heavy objectives and it turned conventional thinking upside down. But questioning conventional practices is something that BMW vp-marketing Jim McDowell asks himself and his team (ad agency Fallon included) to do every day.
The bmwfilms.com concept was constructed to house five great films that just happened to feature BMW cars. Action-adventure, suspense, drama, comedy, and docu-drama shorts came together for one purpose: to entertain.
In our quest to entice Web aficionados, we added another layer: Five 90-second sub-plots directed by Ben Younger. By design, the sub-plots left more questions than answers, ideal for creating intrigue.
The next step was to add a layer to the labyrinth and plant real phone numbers and Web sites into the content. Fallon creative Steve Sage came up with the idea of setting a time and place for viewers to assemble; if you called 212-529-9458, you would hear a disguised voice say, “I have the information you are looking for. Meet me on the corner of Madison and 23rd on August 23rd at 7 p.m. I’ll be wearing a tan trenchcoat with a red rose in the lapel. Don’t be late.”
Segue to Aug. 23. I’m standing on the corner of Madison Avenue and 23rd Street at 3:30 p.m., ready for role-playing. We parked a bullet-ridden 740i from the Ambush film on the street.
It rained — hard. The creases in my pants were gone and I was soaked all the way up to my knees. The team on-site (Tom, Karen, Lucy, and Lisa) had doubts that people would come since the films were four months old.
Then it happened. A guy was looking over the 740i in the pouring rain. He was wearing a knapsack and did not have an umbrella. He was soaked. I approached him and explained that the car was used in the bmwfilms.com short, Ambush.
“You’re early. You’re not supposed to be here until seven,” he said. I replied, “You’re early. You’re not supposed to be here until seven.”
No laughter. I take the next step and ask, “Where are you from?” He says, “Orlando, Florida.” I say, “What brings you to New York?” He replies, “This.” I say, “This!”
As a marketer, I should not admit to being so naïve, but I was dumbfounded. “You came here for this!” I proclaimed. The entire team was blown away and bombarded “Scott” with questions.
As 7 p.m. drew closer, people from as far away as Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, and Greensboro arrived, along with locals. In the end, hundreds of people came to ask the man in the trench coat about the “information.” They came armed with printouts from cbmlt.com (which housed fictitious dossiers and was named after the Fallon account team of Corey, Bryan, Marit, Lisa, and Tilly).
I felt like William Shatner — not as a Priceline spokesperson but as Captain Kirk at a Star Trek convention. I was asked if the older man entering the next motel room in subplot No. 4 was the senator mentioned in the dossier. I replied, “No, that’s just a guy going into the next motel room.”
The truth is, deep down, I loved every second of it. I’m glad I was part of putting a new perspective on the Ultimate Driving Machine for many people.
It would be easy to criticize the naysayers who said bmwfilms.com couldn’t or shouldn’t be done. Instead, I celebrate the climate I live and work in every day.
I’ll still lose sleep when we push the limits, but that’s the whole idea: Make your palms sweat. Go outside of your comfort zone. Dream.
Patrick McKenna is consumer communications manager at BMW of North America, Woodcliff Lake, NJ. He can be reached at [email protected].
