Title	THE FAX MESSAGE
Brand	BMW
Product/Service	BMW I3
Category	E01. Acquisition & Retention
Entrant	AIR PARTNER OF McCANN Brussels, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	AIR PARTNER OF McCANN Brussels, BELGIUM
Production	AIR PARTNER OF McCANN Brussels, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Wim Verbeurgt	BMW Belux	Marketing Communications Manager
Steven De Deyne	BMW Belux	Marketing Communication
Walter Van de Loo	BMW Belux	Senior Communication Specialist
Tim Vermost	BMW Juma	Marketing Coordinator
Eric Hollander	Air Partner of McCann	Executive Creative Director
Joeri Van Den Broeck	Air Partner of McCann	Creative Director BMW
Dieter Riemaeker	Air Partner of McCann	Strategic Director
Aline Huls	Air Partner of McCann	Account Manager
Morgane Choppinet	Air Partner of McCann	Creative
Toon Vanpoucke	Air Partner of McCann	Creative
Marlies Neudt	Air Partner of McCann	RTV Producer
Ophélie Van Hagendoren	Air Partner of McCann	Account Director
Sofie Laeremans	Air Partner of McCann	Junior Account Executive
Frederik Maes	Air Partner of McCann	Copywriter
Gunter Blokken	Air Partner of McCann	Director
Leen d'Hooghe	Air Partner of McCann	Traffic Manager BMW

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

The one-page fax was directly addressed to fleet managers. The people personally responsible for the management of fleet cars in every company. Due to the overwhelming number of promos and ads fleet managers receive on a daily basis, it is an immense challenge to grab their attention. The use of conventional emails won’t do the trick in this case. Using a one-page fax on the other hand made it possible to have a direct channel to communicate to the target audience.

Background

Belgium is a country that has difficulties with making the switch to electric. Especially the fleet market seems to stay behind in this transition. They are stuck on diesel (petrol) engines because the government has stimulated its use for years. So for companies, it’s not easy to make the switch today to electric vehicles. However, it is necessary to convince companies to try electric BMW cars instead of conventional cars. Technology changes continuously. It’s hard for companies to keep up and there is always the fear of the unknown. While companies made the switch from fax to email more than a decade ago, the switch from conventional to electric driving goes rather slowly. Companies were motivated to make the switch by comparing the evolution from fax to email to the change towards electric driving.

Describe the creative idea

Many companies still have a fax machine. Something they haven’t used for over a decade. But still they have one. And it’s still operational. 600 companies near BMW dealers received a one-pager by fax that confronted them with the fact that their fleet can use an update too. That is in a way, also outdated. Companies face uncertainty when challenged by new technology. The fear of the unknown makes them stuck in old habits. By comparing the change from fax to email to the shift to electric, companies are inspired to embrace this change and update their fleet. Because old technology belongs in the past. A channel that was proclaimed dead, was revitalized one last time to encourage companies in their shift to electric vehicles.

Describe the strategy

Fleet managers are responsible for the company’s fleet budget. On the other hand they are flooded with promos and ads. The conventional channels are packed with commercial messaging which makes it difficult to be heard. BMW opted for a channel that was there all along but seemingly forgotten. To grab their attention, 600 companies near BMW Dealers were targeted with a one-page fax. On this one-pager a simple invitation to get in contact to help them with the transformation from conventional engines to electric engines. A lot of operational fax machines are still found in companies. However, they are regarded as old technology. In this case, the medium is the message. Fleet managers should get rid of old technology and start looking for better alternatives. This is why BMW invites companies to make the switch to electric and try out their electric vehicles.

Describe the execution

To create awareness for the switch to electric, fax machines were used as a comparison for the succesful integration of new technology. The shift from fax to email back in the days was used as an eye-opener. By sending a simple black and white one-page fax message, companies were confronted with the fact that they still own old technology. BMW was only one call away to inform them about electric driving and provide testdrives. In order to do something about their lack of innovation, they were guided by BMW in their transformation to electric.

List the results

This campaign costs merely one fax paper and a few hours of faxing to generate 54 new leads in three weeks time. Considering the low cost of those faxes, the return of investment is extremely high. The leads were offered testdrives, and explanations on how companies can actually make the switch towards a new way of driving. Those who did not respond to the fax were followed up by a personal phone call with an invitation to discover electric driving. In 62% of the follow-up phone calls the fleet manager indicated that they had seen the fax message. This means that the ‘not so innovative’ way of communicating managed to get a lot of awareness with the target audience.