Campaign

BMW i: A Window Into the Near Future

the rundown

The upcoming BMW i vehicles are very futuristic looking. But amazingly, they’ll be seen on the road as soon as late 2013. With the BMW i Born Electric Tour making its stop in New York City, we wanted to create an innovative way to create awareness of BMW i, drive people inside the event and reinforce the message that the future is closer than you think. We turned a street-level window at the event location into a digital reflection of passing traffic, transforming the passing cars into BMW i3s and i8s to give passersby a glimpse into the near future. Real BMW i vehicles could be seen inside.

The Building Blocks

We began with the idea of turning live traffic into BMW i vehicles in a window’s reflection. The challenge revolved around creating that illusion. Using a learned background ensured the reflection of Bryant Park across the street matched the number of leaves left on the trees, the holiday vendors, etc. Then, using blob detection technology, we transformed vehicles and matched their speed/behavior with BMW i vehicles. Adding to the realism, we also detected yellow vehicles and projected them as passing taxis. This enhanced the one-to-one relationship of live traffic and projected vehicles.

Display
Display
Web/Apps
Open GL

The Votes

The Details

Agency

kbs+

Brand

BMW North America

Targeted Regions

North America

Marketing Objective

Launch Date

Nov. 12, 2012

The Team

kbs+ www.kbsp.com
Ed Brojerdi, President & Co-Chief Creative Officer
Izzy DeBellis, Co-Chief Creative Officer
DJ Pierce, Executive Creative Director
Michael Craven, Executive Creative Director
Marc Hartzman, Creative Director
Kevin Keehn, Associate Creative Director
Cesar Rubin, Associate Creative Director
Dennis Hanley, Senior Technical Producer
Olena Shmahalo, Art Director
Jake Lee-High, Lead Developer
Matt Richard, Product Analyst
Chris Gsell, Product Architect
Diego Rioja, Interaction Designer
Jed McClure, Director, Interaction Design
Vikram Tank, Director, Product Development
Matt Powell, Chief Information Officer
Mike Dory, Executive Director, Technology
Nick Meyer, Executive Technical Director
Katie Klumper, Group Account Director
David Solomito, Account Director
Gabriela Benitez, Account Supervisor
Virginia Kornfeld, Director, Print Production
Deirdre McMurray, Executive Print Producer
John McClafferty, Retoucher
Ed Miranda, Project Manager

The Stats

15 number of total miles run by the PM to launch site after hurricane shut down mass transit
1 number of freak nor’easter storms hitting the city after a hurricane and days before launch
3 number of 40,000-lumen Barco projectors available in the U.S.

The Results

The one-to-one relationship of passing cars and window reflections was a key part of the illusion – without it, the idea would not have been clear to passersby. During its live dates, Nov. 9-17, we digitally transformed 307,065 passing cars and tracked 335,548 people walking directly by the window. In addition, it created greater awareness through a YouTube video (over 250,000 views in a week) and press coverage, including articles by PSFK.com, MediaPost.com and Creativity-Online.com. Ultimately, it proved to be advertising that was as innovative as the vehicles it promoted.