[Sheel]

How much did the Maruti Versa sell with both Bacchans in tow? How much is the Force SUV selling? How much did the Fiat's sell? Or the Fiesta (with Jr. AB). Many more examples can be cited...

A BMW customer is different from that of the Suzuki Hayate (the sales have gone through the roof [a relative term])

[fuel_addict]

A total waste of effort by BMW in my opinion. Why would a super luxury brand like them need a brand ambassador in the first place? This might set the precedent for others like Audi and Merc to follow suit. I just detest the over exposure of cricketers in spheres outside sports to promote products. Endorsement earnings is so mammoth for these guys that they just don't need to play good cricket anymore. As if the IPL wasn't enough, we now have luxury brand endorsements showered on these overhyped sportsmen.

[raycers_honda]

Note from Mod: There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the board experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

Wow Sachin is the brand ambassador, Damn now I am definitely going to purchase a Beemer.That will be so cool. All thanks to Sachin.

Bang, I shoot myself in the head. LOL

I would never buy any product because of a celebrity. I really don't know why BMW will go and waste their money on him or any other celebrity. Its not like they aren't known in India.

Ask any person who is not well versed with cars or any big brand, which is the expensive car they like. They will say beeyummdoubleu.

[vinair]

Originally Posted by Sheel

How much did the Maruti Versa sell with both Bacchans in tow? How much is the Force SUV selling? How much did the Fiat's sell? Or the Fiesta (with Jr. AB). Many more examples can be cited...

A BMW customer is different from that of the Suzuki Hayate (the sales have gone through the roof [a relative term])

In my opinion, use Bachchans if you wish to kill a product gracefully!! Seriously, its so very tiring to see the Bachchans again and again in advertisements that you tend to ignore even the products endorsed by them!!

[BeamerBoy]

I read through the whole thread. A very interesting insight in deed. So, thought of putting in a divergent view as I see it.

BMW is a great brand. Its products are great, ultimate driving machine etc. But then Audi is breathing on its neck. Possibly Audi is a great brand too offering great products. But to think of it, quite a few Audis could be VWs in disguise etc etc.

So IMHO, beyond a point differentiation between products starts to diminish. One says 'Live the Q life' and the other one counters 'Live the X'. Both brands have 8XX,000 likes on India Facebook page.

Now what could a brand do to start differentiating further? And to think of it, the customer's mind is getting crowded. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche.... Is it possible to get a bigger share of people's mind and respect by just manufacturing products that are just wee bit better than the others? May be yes, may be no. It depends when you hit the bulls eye.

What could be the other option? Provide magnificent service levels. Easier said than done.

What else? Possibly the brand personality. Will a BMW 5 Series sell at the same price if it is badged Fiat (no offense meant)? After all Audi and VW and Skoda are priced differently. So, it is about how we see a Brand as a person. As I interpret, just by producing fantastic cars you cannot differentiate yourself from another brand who is also producing fantastic cars. You need something different.

This could be BMW's experiment with its Brand Personality. May work, may not work. However, going by the talk of history; 3 Series being a legend, evolution, ultimat3 etc it could be that BMW is trying to add an element to its personality i.e. BMW being a well matured, very capable Brand with a solid performing history. Sachin now fits right in. Very capable, very mature, grounded, respected etc etc. It could be symbiosis. He should understand that advertising an Inverter brand, pens and biscuits erode his personality. Better do the right thing. Two big brands/personalities. Both underlining the other's greatness. For BMW (it being a bigger brand), this could be just one facet of its Brand personality, others being presence of Sonam Kapoor on stage unveiling the 6 Series in Udaipur OR the suited brats unveiling the M5.

Hope, it is all well thought of. Hope it works. For me, my 5 series continues to give Joy even today as it has been doing since years.

[Akshay1234]

Personally I think BMW has enough brand awareness in India not to warrant a celebrity as their ambassador. Their marketing campaigns "Ultimate Driving Pleasure" and "Joy is BMW" were good enough.

[vb-saan]

Contrary to the majority of the responses, I actually feel very positive about this.

Are there many choices – either in the sports world, or in the world of entertainment? BMW 3-series is one of the most revered automobile, and they need someone who can match that. Tendulkar is still playing in the top level, and the legend-status and longevity in sports is something best suited for the 3.

In India, cricket is the only popular sport, and I don’t think anyone else from the current top-level cricketers have the class or charisma to carry the brand BMW.

It is indeed much better than A.R. Rahman doing an Etios, SRK with Hyundai i10, or Amitabh Bachchan’s association with Force One. At least in this case, there is a possibility of the celebrity using the car s/he endorses.

[arun_kun]

I also feel the same... It should help make BMW to be recognized as the luxury brand to the masses. As of now for Aam Junta, luxury=benz. They do not even say Mercedes Benz. And I also feel IMHO Sachin image still very high contrary to most opinions here.

[godhatesmyguts]

I fail to understand why bashing Sachin Tendulkar is so fashionable. I mean he is by far the most successful cricketer in the world....ever and cricket is by far the most popular game in the country, and BMW as popular as it may be will surely benefit with this association.

I dont really agree with the views of some of the posts here that luxury brands dont need brand ambassadors. Take for example Tag Heuer, Omega, even Mercedes did one with Schumacher.

Also, as far as concentrating on cricket is concerned, people, please understand that you make an advertisement only once and not every time it is run/rerun, so it doesn't take that much of a player's time.

All said and done, I for one may choose a BMW (am a big BMW fan too by the way) over an Audi or a Mercedes even if all the parameters match up just because a legend like Sachin Tendulkar endorses it, so there !!

[atrisarkar]

I personally never believed in the idea of having 'brand ambassadors'. Maybe for smaller brands yes, but definitely not for a luxury brand. An intelligent advert and marketing campaign works much better.
Having said that if BMW decided on having a brand ambassador, Sachin is in fact a quite good choice. Even today, he commands respect and is believed to be a man of integrity in the eyes of millions of Indians including me.

[sahakar]

Hmm an aging almost retired cricketer and wannabe politician will be the brand ambassador. Did they do any kind of market research on what their would be clientele aspire for and its definitely not cricket anymore. What is BMW smoking?

[shankar.balan]

A contentious topic indeed it seems!
There will certainly be those fans of the particular celebrity and others who agree with the celeb endorsement approach.
Unfortunately not all of us think the same. Opinions are strong and feelings run high.
Hence, I think it might be politic to agree to disagree, leave this thread now and switch off my own participation in it.
Cheers!

[Parthasarathig]

Just saw the new BMW ULTIMAT3 series tv ad. No sign of Sachin in that atleast thankfully. Or else the ad wouldve been meaningless. I was almost thinking what if in the end Sachin steps out of the car, closes the door and smiles.

On a positive note, i love the new 3. Lets hope it becomes the bestseller again.

[searchingheaven]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

And about choosing Sachin as one; it will pay off. Because then BMW would release BMW official merchandise with Sachin on it and given how cricket-crazy India is, Indians will lap it up.

With due respect, i do not believe that selling Sachin endorsed merchandise is going to help at all. As somebody already pointed out, this is not a Rs. 30000 smartphone we are talking about. We are talking of each car costing 40 lakhs and company turnovers of lakh crores. And i dont know if anybody agrees with me, but most people buying premium cars above 40 lakh are mid aged +. They have priorities like comfort, class, tech etc. in their minds. They have other things to do rather than worshipping their sports heroes. Who cares if Sachin endorses a Merc or not? People still buy an S.

Regards,
Misbah Ahmed

[souravc]

And so the media plants start .. do our cricket legends really need to keep the money meter ticking for so long ?
When Sachin bought a second hand BMW