BMW TAPS INTO ITS COMMITMENT TO ART FOR BMW Z4 CAMPAIGN

"Expression of Joy" Creative Built upon Unique Artistic
Collaboration * Artistic collaboration between BMW, contemporary
artist Robin Rhode and filmmaker Jake Scott * 30-minute documentary to
air on Discovery HD Theater on May 10 * Online first with MSN.com
homepage takeover on May 11 * 8-page Vanity Fair insert in June issue
written and photographed by Dennis Hopper Woodcliff Lake, NJ - May 8,
2009... BMW sought an innovative approach for the launch of the all-new
BMW Z4 Roadster, and had to look no further than its rich legacy of
commitment to art for inspiration. The result, an aesthetically
powerful marketing campaign entitled "Expression of Joy,"
rolls out in early May. The campaign, which relies heavily on vibrant
video content, includes an MSN.com homepage takeover on May 11 with
which BMW will be the first advertiser to make use of the Web site's
new feature - an expandable video unit that will allow users to view
the BMW Z4 spot in full-screen mode. Also, the conventional 30-second
spot is complimented by a 30-minute documentary. At the heart of the
campaign, created by BMW's Austin, Texas-based agency GSD&M Idea
City, is an artistic collaboration between BMW, contemporary artist
Robin Rhode and filmmaker Jake Scott. Rhode choreographed the movements
of two BMW Z4 Roadsters mounted with special paint dispensers behind
the wheels to create a football-field size painting, while Scott
captured all the action with 40 simultaneous camera angles. The final
Rhode piece and video elements form the foundation of the campaign's
creative treatments. "BMW has a long history of collaborating
with contemporary artists," said Jack Pitney, Vice President of
Marketing, BMW of North America. "Through this latest
collaboration with Robin and Jake, we've extended our tradition of
engaging leading talents in the art community for the introduction of
the all-new BMW Z4 Roadster." A 30-minute documentary that
offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Rhode piece, as it
was directed by Scott at Downey Studios in Los Angeles last November,
forms the centerpiece of the campaign. The documentary will air on
Discovery HD Theater at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on May 10, with subsequent
multiple airings on the network through May and June. Additionally, a
tie-in with TiVo will extend the reach of the documentary by allowing
TiVo users to preview and record it for later viewing. The BMW Z4
campaign's online presence will rely exclusively on video-based assets,
to bring the performance art to life online. Video banners will run
from May 8 - June 30 on leading news, business and lifestyle Web sites,
including CNN, CNN Money, Dow Jones, Yahoo!, Condé Nast and
Wired. National print pieces, many with unique creative treatments,
will be published in May and June issues of art, lifestyle and design
magazines, including Art & Antiques, ArtNews Esquire, W, and Elle
Décor. Notably, an eight-page, photo feature-style insert,
written and photographed by actor Dennis Hopper, will run in the June
issue of Vanity Fair, and a cover page takeover is slated for the June
issue of Dwell magazine. An out-of-home component is planned for the
nation's busiest airports in ten key markets for BMW. The airport
billboards feature representations of the Rhode piece alongside images
of the BMW Z4 with headlines that read, "Expressionism meets
Exhilarationism," "Not all artists are depressed" and
"Rarely does the paintbrush rival the painting," or the
succinctly stated "Art Movement" and "Muse."
While the core of the campaign breaks in May, some elements that laid
the groundwork for the campaign began to appear as early as late-March,
including: a public art installation featuring the Rhode/Scott
collaboration at New York City's Grand Central Terminal from March
25-April 6; an iPhone application that lets users replicate Rhode's
experience of creating artwork with the BMW Z4 as
"paintbrush;" and the launch of the BMW Z4 micro-site
www.expressionofjoy.com. Additionally, special video spots are now
running in mainstream and independent movie theaters nationwide - a
30-second spot prior to the house lights going down and a two-minute
cinematic piece as a lead-in to the feature presentation. The new BMW
Z4 Roadster goes on sale May 9 with a base MSRP of $46,575. For more
information about the BMW Z4, please visit www.bmwusa.com or
www.expressionofjoy.com. BMW and Contemporary Art BMW has a
long-standing commitment to contemporary art starting with Gerhard
Richter's 1972 commission of three large-scale paintings for the foyer
of the company headquarters in Munich. Karl Schwanzer's architectural
post-war icon, the "four-cylinder" building, marked the
beginning of the company's emphasis on an innovative, dynamic style of
construction which was extended in 2005 with the central building of
the BMW Leipzig Plant, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and the BMW
Welt designed by COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. The BMW Art Car program was
originally conceived by French racecar driver Hervé Poulain in
1975. Since then, prominent artists throughout the world have joined
the elite cast of Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Roy
Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg, and have created sixteen BMW Art
Cars, based on both racing and regular production models. The most
recent contributors to the BMW Art Car Collection are David Hockney
(1995), Jenny Holzer (1999) and Olafur Eliasson (2007). New artists are
chosen by a prestigious panel of international judges, and BMW is
currently in discussions for the development of the seventeenth Art
Car. BMW Group In America BMW of North America, LLC has been present
in the United States since 1975. Rolls- Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began
distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has
grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations
for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI
brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a
strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in
Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW
Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group's global
manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all
X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW
Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of
338 BMW passenger car centers, 335 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,
142 BMW motorcycle retailers, 83 MINI passenger car dealers, and 30
Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's
sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New
Jersey. Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers
via the Internet at: www.bmwgroupna.com www.bmwusa.com
www.bmwmotorcycles.com www.miniusa.com www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com
# # # Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its
products is available to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub
at the following address: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en Broadcast quality
video footage is available via The NewsMarket at www.thenewsmarket.com.
# # # GSD&M Idea City GSD&M Idea City is a leading marketing
communications and advertising company that has helped grow some of the
world's most successful brands. For more information, go to
www.IdeaCity.com. GSD&M Idea City is part of Omnicom Group, Inc.
(NYSE:OMC). # # # Contact Information. Shawn Ticehurst E-Mail:
shawn.ticehurst@bmwna.com Telefon: +1-201-594-3360