Season 1

Ambush Chosen The Follow Star Powder Keg

Season 2

Hostage Ticker Beat the Devil

The HireFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The BMW film series, The Hire was a series of eight short films (averaging about ten minutes each) produced

for the Internet in 2001 and 2002. A form of branded content, all eight films featured popular filmmakers from

across the globe, starred Clive Owen as the "Driver", and highlighted the performance aspects of various BMW

automobiles.

[edit]Plot

The plots of each of the films differ, but one constant remains: Clive Owen plays "The Driver", a man who goes

from place to place (in presumably rented BMW automobiles), getting hired by various people to be a sort of

transport for their vital needs.

[edit]History

On April 26, 2001, John Frankenheimer's Ambush premiered on the BMW Films website and, two weeks later,

was followed by Ang Lee'sChosen.[1] Soon after, director Wong Kar-Wai was tapped to make a third film

entitled The Follow, a dramatic piece about a runaway wife being followed by "The Driver". The film debuted at

the Cannes Film Festival and received rave reviews. It was followed by Guy Ritchie's Starand Alejandro

González Iñárritu's Powder Keg.[2]

After the series began, BMW saw their 2001 sales numbers go up 12% from the previous year. The movies

were viewed over 11 million times in four months. Two million people registered with the website and a large

majority of users, registered to the site, sent film links to their friends and family.[3][4]

The films proved to be so popular that BMW ended up producing a free DVD for customers who visited certain

BMW dealerships. However, BMW hit a small snag and ran out of DVDs. In September, BMW and Vanity

Fair magazine decided to release a more public version of The Hire.[5] Unfortunately, the Vanity Fair disc did

not include Wong Kar-Wai's The Follow. This DVD was also distributed at select dealerships as the first version

could no longer be legally distributed. Forest Whitaker had an uncredited part in the movie and had only agreed

to be in the film if it were shown exclusively on the Internet. When the movie was released to DVD, Whitaker

allegedly exercised an option in his contract which stipulated that the movie would not be released in any other

format without authorization from the actor himself. The second disc, in lieu of carrying The Follow contained a

link to the website with instructions to the viewer to watch the movie online.[6]

Nonetheless, the DVD was highly sought on Internet forums as the September issue of Vanity Fair quickly

vanished from shelves and became a rare find. BMW also pulled off a major coup when the movies were

reviewed by Time Magazine and The New York Times who praised BMW for creating entertaining content for

"discerning movie watchers".[2]

The series continued in October 2002, replacing producer David Fincher with Ridley and Tony Scott due to

Fincher's continuing work onPanic Room.

Season 2 opened in big, loud fashion by debuting a dark action/comedy piece by Tony Scott called Beat the

Devil. The movie, shot in Scott's trademark pseudo-psychedelic style, featured James Brown enlisting The

Driver to take him to Las Vegas to re-work a decades-old deal he made with the devil which evidently gave

Brown his "fame and fortune".[7]

Some differences were evident. Whereas the first season was serious and subdued with tiny bursts of action

and comedy, the second season was all flash and fun. To fit this motif, John Woo and Joe Carnahan were

hired to direct Hostage and Ticker, respectively. The other main difference was that, instead of showcasing

several different BMW cars (like the first season had done), the only car showcased was the then-new BMW Z4

Roadster.[3]

To celebrate the premiere of the second season, BMW threw a party at the ArcLight Hollywood  on October 17,

2002, just a week before the movie's internet debut. The party, co-hosted by Vanity Fair, also served as a

charity and benefit for the homeless.[8]

A month after the premiere of Beat the Devil, DirecTV began airing the entire series, in half-hour loops for five

full weeks, on one of the blank satellite channels the system offered. The films were a success and, as a result,

DirecTV considered using blank channels to air other companies' ads as well.[9]

In 2003, BMW decided to make a third (and final) DVD compilation of The Hire. The new DVD made its debut

at The Palais des Festival during the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and contained all eight movies, including

Wong Kar-Wai's previously absent The Follow.[6] Once again, the disc became available at select dealerships

but fans could also obtain the disc for a nominal shipping fee via the BMW Films website.

During the last quarter of 2004, Dark Horse Comics and BMW planned to publish a 6-issue comic book limited

series based on the main character of the films. The books were written by Kurt Busiek, Bruce

Campbell, Katsuhiro Otomo, and Mark Waid as well as other comic book talent.[10] Only four books were

produced. "Tycoon" was the last book released (in December 2005). While the comics are still able to be

purchased in collector shops and some comic book stores, they are no longer able to be purchased on the

BMW website.

On October 21, 2005, BMW stopped distribution of The Hire on DVD and removed all eight films from the

BMWFilms website just four years after the first film debuted. The series was abandoned, reportedly because

the project had become too expensive. BMW's Vice President of Marketing James McDowell, originator of the

BMWFilms project, left BMW to become the VP of sales and marketing for BMW's "Mini USA" division. BMW

also split from longtime ad partner Fallon Worldwide which was the creative production outlet for the series and

BMW's German division had attempted to become involved with the US division of the company, cutting costs.

[11]

The end results were staggering: the series had been viewed over 100 million times in four years and had

changed the way products were advertised.[2]

Copies of the DVD are still commonly found in Internet shops and auction sites. The movies themselves

continue to appear on many torrent searches and viral video sites around the Internet.

In early 2006, BMW released a line of free "BMW Audiobooks" to take advantage of the iPod/mp3-player

revolution (and the fact that most BMW's came with the "iPod connector" pre-installed in their vehicles). While

the stories had the same pulp-action feel as The Hire, the character of "The Driver" was noticeably absent. The

audiobooks were free (like the films that preceded them) but are no longer available for download from the

BMW website.[12]

On February 17, 2007, MINI (BMW) launched a new short film series called, Hammer and Coop. The series is

a comedic parody of 1970s action-television shows like Starsky & Hutch  and Charlie's Angels, and showcases

BMW's "Mini-Cooper" line of cars as the featured product.[13]

[edit]Details

[edit]Season 1

[edit]Ambush

While escorting an elderly man to an undisclosed location, The Driver is confronted by a van full of armed men

and is warned that the old man has stolen a large amount of diamonds. The old man claims to have swallowed

the diamonds and that the men will likely cut him open to retrieve them. The Driver decides at the last minute to

help him, participating in a car chase and shootout with the van. The Driver eventually evades his pursuers and

watches their destruction. He then delivers the old man to a town nearby and asks the merchant if he did

indeed swallow the diamonds. The client merely chuckles and walks away. The Driver then leaves.

with Tomas Milian

Directed by John Frankenheimer

Written by Andrew Kevin Walker

Featured the BMW 740i

[edit]Chosen

The Driver protects a holy Asian child that was brought to America by boat. The child gives the Driver a gift but

says that he is not supposed to open it yet. After being pursued by many armed assassins, and being grazed in

the ear, he delivers the boy to another holy man. The Boy however signals silently to the Driver that the man is

not actually a monk, indicated by his footwear. The Driver defeats the impostor holy man and rescues the boy.

As he leaves the Driver opens the gift which is revealed to be a Hulk bandage for his bleeding ear.

Directed by Ang Lee

Written by David Carter

Featured the BMW 540i

[edit]The Follow

Main article: The Hire: The Follow

The Driver is hired by a nervous movie manager to spy on a paranoid actor's wife. During his tailing of the wife,

the Driver describes the right way to tail someone. As he follows her he begins to fear what he might learn of

her apparently tragic life. He discovers the wife is fleeing the country and returning to her mother's, and that

she's been given a black eye, likely by her husband. He returns the money for the job, refusing to tell where the

wife is, and drives off telling the manager never to call him again.

with Forest Whitaker, Mickey Rourke, and Adriana Lima

Directed by Wong Kar-wai

Written by Andrew Kevin Walker

Featured the BMW 330i Coupé and the Z3 roadster

[edit]Star

The Driver is chosen by a spoiled and shallow celebrity to drive her to a venue. Unbeknownst to her, her

manager has actually hired the Driver to teach the celebrity a lesson. Pretending to escape her pursuing

bodyguards, the Driver recklessly drives through the city, tossing the hapless celebrity all around the backseat.

They arrive at the venue, where she is thrown out of the car and photographed by paparazzi in an

embarrassing end on the red carpet.

with Madonna

Directed by Guy Ritchie

Written by Joe Sweet and Guy Ritchie

Featured the BMW M5

[edit]Powder Keg

The Driver is chosen by the UN to rescue a wounded war photographer named Harvey Jacobs from a hostile

territory. While they are leaving Jacobs tells the Driver about the horrors he saw as a photographer, but he

regrets his inability to help war victims. Jacobs answers the Driver's curiosity about why he is a photographer

by saying how his mother taught him to see. He gives the Driver the camera film needed for a New York

Times story and also his dog tags to give to his mother. When they reach the border, they are confronted by a

guard who begins to draw arms as Jacobs begins taking pictures, seemingly trying to get himself killed. The

Driver drives through a hail of gunfire to the border, but finds Jacobs killed by a bullet through the seat. The

Driver arrives in America to visit Jacobs' mother and share the news of him winning the Pulitzer Prize and hand

over the dog tags, only to discover that she is blind.

with Stellan Skarsgård  and Lois Smith

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Written by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo Arriaga and David Carter

Featured the BMW X5 3.0i

[edit]Season 2

[edit]Hostage

The Driver is hired by the FBI to help defuse a hostage situation. A disgruntled employee has kidnapped a

CEO and has hidden her, demanding $5,088,042. The Driver delivers the money, writing the sum on his hand

as instructed by the hostage taker. After he is told that he holds the life of a person in his hand, he is ordered to

burn the money. As he complies, the federal agents break in and attempt to subdue the man, who shoots

himself in the head without revealing where the woman is hidden. The Driver then tries to find the hostage

before she drowns in the trunk of a sinking car. As a twist, the kidnapped woman is revealed to be the hostage

taker's lover. She coldly taunts the dying man in the hospital.

with Maury Chaykin and Kathryn Morris

Directed by John Woo

Written by David Carter, Greg Hahn and Vincent Ngo

Featured the BMW Z4 3.0i

[edit]Ticker

In an unnamed foreign country, the Driver drives a wounded man who carries a mysterious briefcase, while

under helicopter attack. During the attack the briefcase is struck by a bullet, causing a display on it to begin

counting down, and it to leak an unknown fluid from the bullet hole. The Driver manages to cause the helicopter

to crash, but refuses to proceed without knowing the contents of the damaged briefcase. It is revealed that the

man guards a human heart for transplant to a statesman (shown in military uniform), whose life

and peacemaking is needed for the continued freedom of the country's people. The case is delivered by the

Driver in time for the surgery. Also present are another military officer whom the passenger had said would take

over the country with tyranny if his superior died (and whose uniform matches the soldiers who had tried to

intercept the heart), and US agents who ensure that he does not interfere with the surgery, and so is forced to

give up his attempt to take the country by force.

with Don Cheadle and F. Murray Abraham

cameos by Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick, Clifton Powell and Dennis Haysbert as US agents.

Written and directed by Joe Carnahan

Featured the BMW Z4 3.0i

[edit]Beat The Devil

The Driver is employed by James Brown, who goes to meet the Devil to re-negotiate the deal he made as a

young man in 1954 to trade his soul for fame and fortune. He is worried about his ageing and the fact he can

no longer do his moves like the splits, and says his lessened ability to perform means he cannot maintain his

fame and fortune. He proposes a new wager, for the stakes of the Driver's soul against another 50 years for his

career, betting on the Driver drag racing against the Devil's doorman/driver Bob on the Las Vegas Strip at

dawn. The race ends with the Driver swerving to pass around a train while the Devil's car crashes and

explodes. Having won the race, the Driver leaves James Brown in the desert, but as he drives away he sees

him as a young man again, who then does a handspring into the splits. The final scene shows Marilyn

Manson who lives down the hall from the Devil, complaining that the noise is disturbing his bible reading, much

to the Devil's fear.

with James Brown, Gary Oldman, Clive Owen and Danny Trejo

cameo by Marilyn Manson

Directed by Tony Scott

Written by David Carter, Greg Hahn and Vincent Ngo

Featured the BMW Z4 3.0i

[edit]"The Subplot Films"

Four smaller movies, dubbed "The Subplot Movies" were shot and directed by Ben Younger. Lacking any real

style (and appearing to be shot with a standard consumer-level DV-cam), they were designed to "fill in the

gaps" between the five films and featured a man who appeared to be tracking "The Driver", finding "clues"

usually scribbled, in pen, on small pieces of paper. The movies, at first glance, have no real connection to the

"Driver" movies at all and made no real sense. Little did viewers realize that the "clues" in the movie were part

of a hidden game that would lead intuitive fans to a party in Las Vegas, Nevada.

[edit]Contest/Game & Party

Shortly after the release of the "Subplot Films", reports circulated around the Internet that Apple, Starbucks,

BMW Films First Illinois Mortgage, and Susstones' all had a small, hidden link on their website that had a direct

connection with the movies. Upon further investigation, three phone numbers and a web address were found in

the four films, which led many viewers to call those numbers and go to that website.

Thousands took to the web, taking place in the hunt but only 250 actually solved the puzzle, which allowed the

lucky few to be entered in a drawing to win a 2003 BMW Z4, seen inHostage.

The final piece of the puzzle was a voicemail, instructing participants to meet with a correspondent in Las

Vegas, the site of a VIP Party for BMW where the Grand Prize Z4 was given away to a couple from Bellingham,

Washington.[14][15] The First Prize was a BMW Q3.s mountain bike, awarded to a student from the University of

New Hampshire.

[edit]Influences

Several companies attempted to capitalize on the success of BMW's film series. In 2002, the Nissan car

company produced their own short film featuring their newly introduced 350Z. Entitled The Run, the movie was

directed by John Bruno, a James Cameron protege who worked with Cameron on True Lies, The

Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The film was shown in theaters before feature films in November

2002. Nissan offered a DVD of the film for $9.95.[16] A few years later, Bombardier Recreational Products

company introduced a series of short movies on the Internet which showcased their "Sea-Doo" line of personal

water craft (PWC)[17] while Covad Business also constructed a campy internet horror film based on their

products called The Ringing with the intent of showcasing VoIP technology.[18]

http://www.amplimark.com/branding-and-marketing/BMW-films.shtml

Case Study : BMW Films

In 2002, BMW produced a series of eight short films (averaging about ten minutes each) exclusively for internet users. This web-only short film series "The Hire", starring Clive Owens was a unique marketing experiment by BMW. All eight films featured popular filmmakers from across the globe, and highlighted the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles. More than 11 million viewers tuned in to watch these web only short films and over 2 million registered on BMW website and large majority of users, registered to the site, sent film links to their friends and family. In next four years, it is estimated that these videos were viewed over 100 million times!

What is even more remarkable is that BMW launched and successfully executed this campaign inspite of the fact that there wasn't a mass market content streaming platform such as YouTube back then.

After the series began, BMW saw their 2001 sales numbers go up 12% from the previous year. The films proved to be so popular that BMW ended up producing a free DVD for customers who visited certain BMW dealerships. This small marketing move significantly improve dealer traffic.

How Did They Do It?BMW films was one of the early viral marketing attempts on the internet. These films were not some marketing videos produced by BMW marketing. They were passive in terms of brand advertising. For example, you can replace the BMW car in the film by another brand but core story in the film still made sense. These films made a strong emotional connection with the viewers regardless of their affinity to BMW brand. Also, these films very cleverly have a central character called The Driver who "helped people through difficult circumstances using deft driving skills-in a prominent." The whole idea was to project the "Ultimate Driving Machine" image to support the release of new vehicles.

While this viral marketing effort was unproven and untested at the time of conception, there were few things BMW knew about its customers that spurred them to create this campaign. For example, BMW discovered that approximately 85% of their customers researched the vehicles on the internet before purchasing them. According to an article by Tom Hespos, the films were the basis for an extremely successful viral campaign, almost all of the people who downloaded the movies recommended them to other people.

The BMW Films project was one of those moments when an advertising campaign is so powerful that it didn't need an established platform to work with. BMW successfully promoted its brand and the particular Z4 product that was at the heart of the promotion. People took the underlying message to heart and walked away with a very positive deep brand experience.

BMW VIRAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

A series of Short Films: The Hire (2001 -2005)

Introduction:

In 2002, BMW did a unique marketing experiment by launching a campaign of eight short films exclusively for internet users. This web-only short film series was named “The Hire”.

BMW picked up the popular filmmakers from the world for these films, starring “Clive Owens” in all the films. These films highlighted the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles.

Features: One of the early viral marketing attempts on the internet A passive style of Brand Advertising No support of YouTube A central theme in all the videos Projected the theme of “the ultimate driving machines” Free DVDs videos of for customers at all showrooms. Significant improve in dealer traffic

Season 1 (2001)

Based on Serious theme with few part of action and comedy

Used a lot of BMW car models in the series

Released short films

Ambush Chosen The Follow Star Powder Keg

Season 2 (2002)

Based on theme of flash and funUsed only one BMW model Z4 RoadsterReleased short films

Hostage Ticker Beat the Devil

Supportive Activities: BMW Audio-books Contest, Game & Party The Subplot films BMW dealership showroooms Magazine : Vanity Fair Got positive media review Airing the entire series on empty satellite channel (Direct TV)

Cannes film festival BMW Films website Through “Dark Horse Comics”

Effects: 12% increase in 2002 year sales over 2001 Significant improve in dealer traffic More than 11 million viewers within four months of launch. 2 million registrations on BMW website within few months. Most of viewers sent the link to their friends and relatives. More than 100 million views in the next four years and still continue…