Business News Holding

Tag: marketing

  • BMW Offers Legal Way To Drive Z4 Roadster While Using iPhone

    smartphone iphone
    BMW has come up with a novel – and legal – way to drive its new Z4 Roadster while using the iPhone.

    No, it’s not some ingenious hands-free device designed by engineering geniuses at the German car-maker.

    It’s a free game for the Apple handset created by mobile applications company Artificial Life.

    According to BMW, the launch of the lite version of the "BMW Z4 – An Expression of Joy" game offers BMW fans the first opportunity worldwide to virtually customize and test drive the new Z4 Roadster.

    While the game will no doubt appeal to fans of the German sportscar, it also demonstrates the potential smartphones offer to inventive marketing departments.

    Andreas Schwarzmeier, of BMW Sports Marketing & Cooperations,said the car-maker was always looking for innovative and effective communication channels.

    He said the game had been produced to accompany the BMW Z4 marketing campaign.

    "For a long time the game market has delivered new products and technologies closer to the consumer," he said.

    "Additionally this game perfectly fits with the key intention of our brand ‘Joy’."

    Presented in top quality interactive 3D graphics, the lite version is described as "a unique driving game that lets players drive the BMW Z4 while at the same time painting a picture using the car’s tires".

    The virtual car configurator enables players to choose between the official BMW Z4 colors and rims to create their own roadster.

    The option to drive with an open or closed retractable hardtop gives additional authenticity.

    Selections can be made by simply tapping on the various components. Players can virtually rotate the car around in order to view the car from different angles. The customized cars that players create may be saved for use in the driving game.

    The game is available for download for the iPhone and iPod touch in Apple’s App Store. A full version is being prepared for release in May.

  • Wehrs Named As New MMA President & CEO


    Former Nuance exececutive Mike Wehrs has been appointed president and CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association.

    The move follows the departure of Laura Marriott.

    Mike Wehrs, CEO MMA

    Wehrs joins the MMA from Nuance Communications, where he was vice president of Industry Affairs and Evangelism.

    He has also served on the board of directors and executive committees for a number of organisations, including the CTIA.

    In the new role Wehrs is to concentrate on promoting the MMA’s charter to "build a sustainable ecosystem for the mobile marketing industry globally, focusing on delivering benefits to MMA members, establishing guidelines and best practices for future growth, and driving mobile adoption worldwide".

  • Hispanics in the US more likely to buy HDTV in next 12 months than non-Hispanics


    Twenty-eight per cent of Hispanics questioned in a US survey say they will buy a large-screen television or HDTV in the next 12 months.
    They also say that TV advertising is the medium that mostly influenced their decision, according to research by Vertis Communications.
    This compares to just 23 per cent of non-Hispanics planning to purchase a large-screen or HDTV in the next 12 months.
    The study – Customer Focus® OPINIONES – also showed that Hispanics found inserts and circulars to be the second most influential form of advertising.
    Internet marketing was the third-most selected medium.
    Scott Marden, director of marketing research for Vertis Communications, said the data proved that multi-channel campaigns were marketers’ best options for swaying Hispanic consumers.
    “Hispanics are increasingly becoming more reliant on the Internet and other forms of technologically advanced marketing—including cell phone and e-mail campaigns—to gather information on products prior to making buying decisions,” he said.
    “While this portends a greater focus on online media, it is crucial for marketers to consider a multi-channel effort when motivating Hispanic consumers to make purchase decisions.
    “Television and direct mail should be cornerstones, along with Web advertising, of any multicultural marketing plan.”