MediaMonks takes lead on consolidated BMW and Mini account

The BMW Group has awarded its pan-European marketing account for BMW and Mini to a team led by S4 Capital's MediaMonks.

Three agencies will make up a dedicated shop, called The Engine, to serve BMW and Mini.

BMW said MediaMonks will be "at the heart" of the new setup working on creative and production, alongside German agency Service Plan on technology and data-driven elements and specialist consultancy Berylls Strategy Advisors on business transformation.

It is thought that BMW and Mini have used dozens of agencies across Europe, and this move will consolidate those relationships into three main players.

The Engine will work across all 26 European markets from the third quarter of the year.

The account spans creative, media, data and consulting and BMW said a key aim was to "eliminate friction" and ensure its marketing becomes more "data-driven and customer-oriented".

BMW called the review in February this year.

"By consolidating contents and centralising the European agency and partner network, the BMW Group is establishing an extremely efficient, high-performance marketing engine capable of supporting individualised and modern customer relationship management across all touchpoints for both the BMW and Mini brands," the company said.

"This will enable the organisation to better anticipate the wishes and requirements of existing and prospective customers, with the aim of offering timely, individually and contextually relevant information at each step of the customer journey. 

"The brand hopes to improve the quality of customer experience and enhance marketing for vehicle sales, after-sales services and digital."

One person familiar with the ambition of the pitch process described it as "total integration". 

Pieter Nota, member of the board of management at BMW, customer, brands, sales, said: "Our decision to select The Engine as our new agency constellation for all of Europe clearly dovetails with our claim to provide the best premium customer experience within the automotive industry.

"In the process, we are steadily expanding our expertise in the digitalisation of customer, brand and sales processes and are thus investing in the future of our commitment to providing customers with a source of joy in their lives."

Jens Thiemer, senior vice-president for customer and brand at BMW, added: "This system will comprehensively integrate the classic marketing disciplines of strategy, creation and production with all relevant aspects of the customer journey – while elevating them to a high-tech level.

"In practice, this includes all areas of data-driven performance marketing and analytics, marketing automation, programmatic media and CRM support. In addition, we are consolidating the management of web operations and ecommerce within our new agency operating system."

HorizonT, a German news site, reported that Accenture, Dentsu Aegis Network and Interpublic also competed on the pitch.

Sir Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital has expanded rapidly since acquiring MediaMonks in its first deal in 2018 and hit a £2bn stock market valuation this month.