Quote:
Originally Posted by auggiem3
Given the later question, it seems to me that those adamant for the M badge are looking for a status symbol held by those who invested in the performance of a full fledged M product. To integrate the Harvard example, those pursuing the School of Continuing Studies were doing so not because of the quality of the education (where they could have arguably gotten a better schooling experience at BC or BU or Tufts, etc.) but because they wanted to portray themselves as Harvard educated folks when in most circumstances, the group fell short of normal admission criteria….so I say badge it as an IS and those who want it for the right reason will still buy it.
|
I totally agree that too much watering down would damage the M brand and might deter true M buyers from remaining faithful to BMW, and that a fair deal of more modest budget buyers might be attracted to this new range not by automotive passion but by the
status that M represents. But what if these M Performance models have serious arguments to back up their name (much more than the M Sport...) and become best in class models against their Audi S rivals? Wouldn't they deserve to be associated with the M label which today represents BMW's sporty essence?
Personally I wouldn't be attracted by the upmarket status the M logo stands for but rather by the
charisma this sub-brand has developped (an iconic letter, 3 emblematic colors, a sporty taste...) on top of quality vehicles with outstanding performance (unlike your example of trading good quality studies in order to get the Harvard brand). Driving an M Performance, personally I wouldn't derive any gratification from thinking I'm driving a close-to-M car (although we might argue that these cars' engineering proficiency and performance are way over average and are little Ms) but just a car which has some of 'that taste'. To me a fully Individual 550i has more 'status' than an ///M550d (but less charisma), but it's my personal perception, maybe others find gratification in M's status.
Incidentally, if more modest buyers seek status, how about real M drivers? Are they all automotive passionate enthusiasts? Here on the forum probably yes, but generally speaking I don't think so, more and more buyers (especially in emerging countries) are seeking precisely status and drive real M because they want to own 'the most expensive' version of such model and can afford it. Why would those buyers deserve the M badge? Only because they can afford it while others cannot? M has become a brand which multiplies its versions and evolves with its time (turbocharging, M SUVs...), so I think it isn't legitimate to say
"M equals high-end traditional supercars only", it simply isn't true anymore. Rather, M today equals "very sporty BMW" (not necessarily supercar level). I don't think that a handful of purist enthusiasts deserve to claim that their label remains 'greedily' exclusive since the brand itself diversifies, openly admits wanting to sell high volumes, 'sells out' its tradition and says "no dogmas". What counts most is that M keeps producing benchmark supercars, not that some lower range versions are associated with the M badge.
Lastly, if BMW can develop another attractive and charismatic label as M is, it would be great, but they don't seem to want to because marketing a new label and making it fruitful is a long and expensive process, while the M brand is already well established and they used the easy option. But if they succeed to create another attractive label (what
is failed to), and I don't mean status-wise but purely attraction-wise (status will come after success, and success requires attractivity!), then I would gladly be a potential customer. Until then, I don't think many would go for a more upmarket (therefore more expensive) label like
is was, as performant as it might be, as long as it lacks specificity (= too closely derived from the stock model) and charisma.