Bundling Multiple Media Channels into a Single “Traffic-Generating Engine”: What Is BMW’s Cross-Media Strategy?

Organically linking various media to enhance the precision of advertising campaigns and visualize their impact on store visits—we introduce the latest cross-media initiative undertaken by Dentsu Inc. and BMW.

In the “Discover BMW.” campaign targeting BMW’s entry-level models, launched in 2025, various media channels were combined and foot traffic data was utilized to create a single “customer acquisition engine.”

We spoke with Ayaka Tomozumi of BMW Japan and Hitoshi Sakata of Dentsu Inc. about the background, details, and results of this cross-media planning. We hope this article will be of assistance in media planning for a wide range of products and services.

Selecting the right media for each funnel and making it function as a single "customer acquisition engine"

──Please start by introducing yourself.

Tomozumi: I serve as Brand Communications Manager at BMW Japan. I primarily oversee the entire marketing and communications strategy, including paid and owned media.

Sakata: I belong to Dentsu Inc.’s Marketing Division 1 and am in charge of media planning. For BMW’s campaigns, I design cross-media strategies that efficiently combine multiple media channels. As the lead agency primarily responsible for BMW’s media initiatives, Dentsu Inc. has proposed and supported various campaigns to date.

──Dentsu-ho also featured BMW’s media initiatives last year (readthe article here). For those reading this article for the first time, could you briefly recap last year’s initiatives?

Sakata: Last year, to coincide with the launch of the “BMW 5 Series Touring,” we rolled out a campaign featuring TV, digital ads, and DOOH (digital out-of-home advertising).

There were two key points to this campaign. First, to verify the effectiveness of the TV commercials, digital ads, and DOOH, we used foot traffic data from unerry (*1) and Dentsu Inc.’s integrated on- and off-media marketing platform “STADIA360” (*2) to visualize whether people who saw the ads actually visited a BMW dealership.The second was to not only deliver ads to audiences already interested in BMW but also to identify “potential customers likely to visit a dealership” using foot traffic data, and then target that segment with digital ads and DOOH.

*1 unerry: A company that analyzes big data on foot traffic using AI to capture people’s real-world behavior, providing marketing services and developing smart city initiatives. It specializes in data privacy.

*2 STADIA360: By integrating TV viewing data (for which users have provided prior consent) with various data sets held by different data providers (such as surveys, websites, digital ad impressions, app metrics, entertainment data, location data, purchase data, and first-party customer data), STADIA360 enables comprehensive verification of connected TV ad effectiveness through large-scale ID data analysis.

──Thank you. Could you tell us about the “Discover BMW.” campaign for which you handled media planning?

Tomozumi: “Discover BMW.” is a campaign focused on BMW’s entry-level models. It ran for two weeks from October 27 to November 9, 2025. We conducted the campaign uniformly at dealerships nationwide, featuring activities such as a test-drive campaign with prizes and purchase support.

──When planning the media strategy for “Discover BMW,” could you tell us about any challenges you faced in your previous media planning efforts?

Tomozumi: The challenge was that we couldn’t quantify whether our ads were actually driving store visits or whether the media we selected was effective. Additionally, while we recognized the importance of advertising across various media, we didn’t fully understand which combinations would be most effective for BMW’s initiatives. So this time, we tested various combinations to verify their effectiveness and aimed to deliver ads that would better drive store visits.

Sakata: As mentioned earlier, we attempted to visualize whether people who saw the ads actually visited the store last year. While we achieved some results, the media planning lacked cohesion and felt like it merely provided a method of “utilizing foot traffic data.”

So this time, we wanted to take our media planning to the next level. Since “Discover BMW.” is a sales promotion campaign, we aimed to ensure it contributed effectively to sales by selecting the appropriate media for each stage of the funnel—top (awareness), middle (interest), and bottom (search behavior)—and functioning as a single “customer acquisition engine.”

Leveraging Various Media and Foot Traffic Data to Boost Store Visits

—Please tell us about the objectives of this media planning.

Tomizumi: Since this campaign focused on entry-level models, our goal was to reach not only existing customers but also those who are not yet aware of BMW and those who haven’t made a purchase due to price concerns. Additionally, we utilized foot traffic data to target potential customers likely to visit dealerships and encouraged them to come in.

Sakata: In car sales, test drives and hands-on experiences are the most important factors. For us, getting people to actually visit the dealership was the primary objective. Furthermore, in terms of cross-media planning, we also aimed to visualize the effectiveness of combining different media channels.

──Could you tell us more about the details of the campaign?

Sakata: For the top of the funnel, we selected TV and digital advertising (video sites) to build brand awareness. For the middle of the funnel, we chose audio media—including radio, which we believed would heighten interest while aligning well with the car—to foster engagement.For the bottom of the funnel, we targeted audiences most likely to visit a dealership or make a purchase by using display ads on search engines, social media, and messaging apps. Furthermore, we utilized foot traffic data to place DOOH ads in locations where potential customers likely to visit dealerships tend to gather, and we also ran ads on audio and digital platforms specifically targeting that audience.

──What were the key points of this campaign?

Sakata: It was the use of foot traffic data to target potential customers via audio media. Additionally, this was our first attempt at analyzing store visits by combining TV commercials with audio media, as well as analyzing the four cross-media channels—TV commercials, DOOH, audio, and digital ads—in combination.

──Why did you choose audio media?

Sakata: Audio media has been gaining attention in recent years, and since people often listen to it while driving, we believed it had high affinity with cars. We selected it because we wanted to visualize and demonstrate this affinity in the form of measurable advertising effectiveness. Another reason for this media selection was the availability of a solution capable of visualizing the combined advertising effectiveness of TV and audio media.

Incidentally, for the middle funnel—though not shown in the diagram above—we also selected golf cart displays. The aim is to choose a setting aligned with the interests and preferences of the demographic that purchases imported cars, specifically golf, to spark their interest in BMW’s advertisements.

We were able to demonstrate that integrated advertising initiatives across the full funnel contribute most significantly to store visits

—What results did you achieve with this campaign?

Sakata: We focused on three key metrics: visit efficiency, visit rate, and number of visits. For visit efficiency, targeted delivery to potential customers using foot traffic data proved effective. The results showed that DOOH was most effective for the visit rate, while TV commercials and DOOH were most effective for the number of visits.

While TV commercials are often considered a medium for building brand awareness, advertisers actually want to know whether they lead to store visits. By visualizing the data in this campaign, we found that TV commercials generated a high number of store visits. In the case of BMW, it had long been said that “TV commercials are more effective at driving store visits in local areas,” and we were able to visualize that as well.

Another new discovery was that audio media is highly effective. Looking at the demographics of store visitors, one particular audio medium had a high proportion of women in their 50s, a characteristic not found in other media. Recently, it is not uncommon for couples to visit dealerships together, so this may be a contributing factor. Audio is one medium we intend to continue monitoring closely.

──Could you also tell us about the results of the cross-media analysis?

Sakata: The engagement pattern that combined TV commercials with DOOH, digital, and audio recorded the highest visit rate. In other words, we found that integrated advertising campaigns across the entire funnel contribute most significantly to store visits.

Tomozumi: Among the various media, the effectiveness of DOOH was particularly impressive. In our media planning for previous campaigns, we typically considered TV, newspapers, and digital first, so we hadn’t paid much attention to DOOH. However, after implementing this cross-media planning that combined the four media, we discovered that the visit rate increases when consumers are exposed to DOOH. If TV becomes difficult due to budget constraints, we can incorporate DOOH. Looking at these results, I feel that our range of options has expanded.

Sakata: You’re absolutely right. When planning media campaigns, advertisers rarely bring up DOOH, but this analysis has shown us just how crucial it is.

──As BMW, what other results have you observed?

Tomozumi: Previously, we couldn’t make direct comparisons under identical conditions. This made it difficult to determine whether the results of a new campaign would be replicable in the next one, or to compare different media types to see which was more effective. In that regard, a major achievement this time was that we conducted full-funnel media planning for a single campaign—with the same objectives, target audience, and timeframe—and were able to visualize the results side-by-side using concrete metrics.

──How was the reaction from the field?

Tomozumi: By utilizing TV commercials, we received feedback from dealers that they felt a tangible increase in new customers. This was exactly what we at BMW wanted to hear most. Additionally, by leveraging audio media, we were able to achieve broad awareness among car users, which gave us a real sense of progress.

Sakata: I was surprised to hear dealers say they had actually heard the audio media ads. It really drove home the fact that the message was getting through, and I think we were able to “visualize aspects that aren’t visible in the data.”

──Finally, could you share your outlook for the future?

Tomozumi: Starting with the new BMW iX3, scheduled for launch this year, BMW is ushering in a new era. The BMW iX3 is not merely an evolution of an existing model; it will serve as a pioneer pointing the way to the future of the BMW brand. We plan to collaborate with Dentsu Inc. not only on targeting but also on branding, so please look forward to it.

Sakata: At Dentsu Inc., we also intend to continue our media planning efforts without losing our spirit of challenge. Rather than simply utilizing media, we want to propose new solutions while being mindful of whether we can properly visualize that we are actually “driving traffic.” Since products like BMW cars aren’t something people buy immediately after seeing an ad, branding is crucial. We plan to continue supporting BMW by maintaining a strategic mindset, leveraging data to quantify advertising effectiveness, and working closely with them moving forward.