BMW’s F1 Team Pit Lane Park could make a pit-stop here
COME September next year, Singapore will be bustling with all things Formula 1. And if things go well, Singaporeans could get up close and personal with the BMW team if the German carmaker brings the BMW Sauber F1 Team Pit Lane Park here.
“The Pit Lane Park brings people closer to the brand. They can experience Formula 1 up close. We don’t do it in every location, but we do around eight to 10 of these parks a year,” said Mr Torsten Müller-Ötvös, BMW’s senior vice-president for central marketing and brand management.
In April, some 40,000 F1 fans in Kuala Lumpur (picture) were treated to a display of F1 brakes, wings and engines. There were also driving simulators for those eager to put pedal to metal. In the Pit Stop Challenge, F1 enthusiasts could attempt to change an F1 car tyre in less than 10 seconds. F1 and Formula BMW cars and bikes were also on hand for burnouts and donuts at a 90-metre-long track.
“BMW has a history in motor sports. It belongs to the brand. If we are going to be in it, we have to be at the pinnacle of the sport — Formula 1,” said Mr Müller-Ötvös.
The high-tech wizardry used in today’s F1 cars will eventually find its way into BMW road cars. The excitement generated by the sight and sound of such technology is something traditional advertising cannot replicate.
“People leave the place smiling. They smell the rubber, the exhaust. It involves their senses, that is the total F1 experience,” said Mr Müller-Ötvös.
That is what he calls experiential branding and marketing.
“I’m not saying that conventional advertising isn’t necessary, but we need experiential marketing. Give them the BMW experience, that is how you bring a premium brand into people’s minds,” said Mr Müller-Ötvös.
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