How BMW is using digital to target next generation of customers

BMW’s electric vehicle line-up is set to undergo dramatic change with the next-generation Neue Klasse models that will introduce a radical design language and advanced new technology. But, beyond the metal, the Munich firm’s sales and marketing approach is currently undergoing an equally seismic change.

As with several other manufacturers, the rise in demand for online sales has prompted BMW to switch to a new direct-to-customer ‘agency’ sales model, while the ubiquity of social media has – sometimes controversially – given the brand more control over its own message. 

“We already leverage the possibilities of digitalisation in the vehicle itself with our iDrive [infotainment] system and in the customer process,” says Pieter Nota, who, as BMW’s board member for sales and marketing, is in charge of leading the digital transformation.

“We are preparing for a direct sales model, where we leverage the possibilities of digitalisation to build…