The success of a brand is portrayed through its capacity to impel consumers to shift from rational purchase behaviors, to buying a product or service only because they love it or feel good about it. Realizing this fact BMW group has begun to differentiate itself with the creation of a number of lifestyle products in the automotive industry. This article will describe some of these new products. In each of the product BMW tried to combine elegance, comfort, and esthetics with premium quality.

BMW is the global leader of premium automobiles and motorcycles. In 1994, BMW acquired MINI, a brand that has reached iconic cult status since the 1960s.They redesigned the traditional ‘Mini’ and introduced new models with the brand name BMW MINI. Most specifically, they have used both the BMW and MINI brands for these lifestyle product extensions. In the process to extend powerful brand identity, they introduced the new MINI motion shoe at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003. The MINI motion shoe was the result of cooperation with the German sports goods manufacturer, PUMA. The brand attempts to satisfy customer’s pleasure while driving. It was indeed a combination of MINI’S designer excellence and PUMA’s craftsmanship.

Two years earlier, the BMW X-Bike concept study, an innovative high-tech bicycle grabbed the attention of the press in Frankfurt. The BMW Street-Carver, an innovative skateboard also generated a lot of attention and received numerous awards, including being named “Invention of the Year” by Time magazine in 2001.

These three products are part of BMW Group’s fast-growing lifestyle business, covering all non-car-related products for the BMW and MINI brands. These products were developed through collaboration between BMW, MINI, and a broad range of partners. They have opened BMW studios in different parts of the world to showcase a wide range of lifestyle products including shirts and jackets, leather coats, business attire, sports products in golfing, kids’ mobility equipment, car miniatures, Original Accessories, Baggage and luggage. Reports say that the sales volume of BMW’s lifestyle products is increasing about 10 per cent annually.

However, it is too early to predict BMW’s success in lifestyle products. People around the world know BMW as a premium producer of automobiles and motorbikes. Perceptions of the brand are strongly linked with dynamic sport values. Because of this strong brand identity, brand extensions would be misleading if the new products had no connection to the car, the core competencies, or brand values.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 8:38 am and is filed under Luxury lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.