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3/16/2005
BMW Announces Unprecedented Partnership With SIRIUS Satellite Radio To Promote New 3 SeriesSIRIUS Satellite Radio |
BMW of North America today announced that the company will be taking advantage of the burgeoning communications medium of satellite radio to promote its highly anticipated new 3 Series. This unprecedented partnership represents a watershed in the industry.
On March 26th, BMW will kick off a historic grassroots 44-day cross-country tour dubbed "3 Across America" to celebrate the launch of the new 3 Series. The "3 Across America" tour will culminate on May 6th, with an 18 hour marathon broadcast which will be aired on a special SIRIUS BMW Channel. The program will consist of an entertaining and continuous "travelogue" of the entire coast-to-coast tour, including local attractions and adventures experienced on the drive, unique and eccentric stories from the road, live interviews, and vignettes. The journey will be topped off by a live concert starring top name performers.
A caravan of classic BMW 3 Series cars, new 330i Sedans, and the 3 Series' spiritual predecessor, the 2002ti -- representing the breadth and heritage of the 3 Series -- will depart from New York and travel across the country, ending up in Los Angeles on May 6th, which is also the official U.S. "on-sale" date for the new 3 Series. This cross-country caravan will give people across America a sneak peek at the new 3 Series before the car arrives in dealerships.
"3 Across America" will allow BMW and 3 Series enthusiasts to participate in events at landmark destinations across the country, in cities such as San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Dallas, Detroit, Seattle, Monterey, and many others.
SIRIUS will record adventures and local culture experienced during the 44-day cross-country drive.
Snippets from the road will be compiled into minute-long updates to air across SIRIUS talk and entertainment channels throughout the "3 Across America" tour. Attendees of the various events across the country will have the chance to share their favorite driving stories, songs and experiences for these broadcasts. Listeners will also be treated to the sounds of local flavor from each city, which will be peppered throughout the broadcasts.
"We are thrilled to join forces with SIRIUS Satellite Radio to raise awareness of our new 3 Series, and the historic '3 Across America' caravan," said Jim McDowell, Vice President, Marketing, BMW of North America LLC. "SIRIUS listeners and BMW customers share a similar mind-set - innovative, cutting-edge, and forward-looking. Because satellite radio reaches exactly the types of audiences BMW wants to reach, we believe this is a partnership that makes perfect sense. SIRIUS will provide its listeners with a unique, fun, and memorable way of experiencing both the BMW brand and the excitement surrounding the new 3 Series."
"This event is an unprecedented integration of driving excellence from BMW with programming excellence from SIRIUS, and we are extremely proud that BMW has chosen to partner with us for the launch of the new 3 Series," said Doug Wilsterman, Senior Vice President and General Manager OEM Division for SIRIUS. "This progressive venture gives BMW and SIRIUS the opportunity to explore and leverage the latest in technology and innovation to reach out to an audience. We look forward to airing a wealth of terrific and entertaining material during '3 Across America' and on the May 6th BMW/SIRIUS broadcast."
The BMW/SIRIUS partnership represents the first time SIRIUS has participated in the launch of a new product. By partnering with SIRIUS, BMW is tapping into a market of like-minded consumers that value new technology and novel communication techniques. SIRIUS currently has over 1.24 million subscribers.
SIRIUS said it plans to roll out the effort with a distinct sense of fun-sending a producer on the road with BMW's "3 Across America" caravan. The producer will visit iconic locations in each city interviewing everyone from baseball fans in the Braves' Turner Field in Atlanta to nighttime soap fans at the site of the famous Ewing Southfork Ranch in Dallas. The resulting sound bites will be broadcast on a variety of SIRIUS channels during the "3 Across America" tour, but then will become part of the grand finale broadcast on May 6th.
BMW and SIRIUS say the 18-hour broadcast will be part cultural diary, and part entertainment happening. A first of its kind, the BMW channel on SIRIUS radio will include a simulcast of the live musical performance from the Peterson Automotive Museum in LA that will serve as the celebration of 3 across America and the U.S. "on-sale" date of the new 3 Series, in addition to the one on one interviews with a selection of the most interesting characters encountered by the "3 Across America" team.
"We're really looking forward to the whole cross-country tour. Our goal is not just to bring the new 3 Series out to car enthusiasts, but to capture the essence of their excitement and to communicate that via SIRIUS satellite radio," said McDowell. "What better way to celebrate a new car than to host a massive 'road trip'. We're thinking of this as part Kerouac, part 21st century Radio Theater. Even if you don't have a driver's license, I think you're going to have a great time listening to the BMW channel on SIRIUS May 6th."
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