Lamborghini America Chooses BMF as Experiential AOR

From the moment the world first saw the 350 GT at the Geneva Auto Show in 1964 to the introduction of the all-electric Lanzador concept at this year’s Monterey Car Week, the Lamborghini brand has been defined by the vehicle experience. For eight months, Lamborghini America put its experiential marketing account up for review, looking for an agency that could capture the brand’s energy and culture as it neared the milestone 60th anniversary. After paring the field down to three agencies, it accepted a bid from BMF—an integrated strategic, creative and public relations firm that’s partnered with Gucci, Savage X Fenty, Visa and Madonna on experiential campaigns. Luxury Brands Are Recession Proof, According To Consumers Lamborghini America awarded BMF a three-year deal, but ushered it into the spotlight quickly when floods in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region forced Lamborghini to cancel its 60th anniversary celebration. Instead, BMF-led events at Monterey Car Week in August took on added importance, with Lamborghini unveiling the Lanzador, displaying its heritage vehicles at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and having a designer show visitors the custom leather and stitching possible in the interior of a Lamborghini vehicle. “That's the point of experiential," said BMF CEO Bruce Starr. "How do we get people to feel the product, touch the product, design the product? Those are the touch points that really get the customer and the dealerships very excited.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lamborghini (@lamborghini) Lamborghini tasked BMF with bringing those experiences to markets across North America, with the realization that no two activations will be alike. At Monterey Car Week, for example, BMF focused its efforts on auto enthusiasts and those catering to them, giving eight editors of various publications 17-mile test drives in the Lanzador concept car at Pebble Beach. At Art Basel in Miami, meanwhile, BMF would cater its experiences to art collectors and dealers who also happen to love cars. Last year was Lamborghini’s first at Art Basel, where BMF sees the automaker parked at an intersection of marketing opportunities. “If you collect cars, your home probably collects art,” Starr said. “There's a cross-section of luxury—watches, art, vehicles—that all play to the same consumer and are all, in the same way, interesting.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lamborghini (@lamborghini) For Lamborghini, the future of those dovetailing interests will look markedly different than the 60 years that preceded it. The automaker plans to make its entire line hybrid electric by 2024. By 2030, the all-electric Lanzador (slated for 2028) will be accompanied by an electric version of the automaker's Urus SUV, which is tentatively due for release in 2029. North America represents an important part of its large-scale regional strategy to convince American, Asia Pacific and European/Middle Eastern/African markets that Lamborghini’s electric future is worth embracing. BMF will make the automaker’s pitch at a Lamborghini NYC Lounge, an off-road course in Sonoma and a Movember-linked event in Southern California, among other locations. But as automotive brands become less reliant on foot traffic at auto shows and other events and more dependent upon the social media ripples from said events, BMF sees influencer engagement and social media metrics as pillars of the Lamborghini experience going forward. “You can't measure emotion—there is no way you can measure that first time you sit in a Lamborghini, that you feel the steering wheel, that you smell the leather, that you put your foot on the pedal—but that has a unique effect,” Starr said. “But what we can measure are the social results and the PR results ... and they matter.”

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BMF Finds New Gear as Lamborghini America's Experiential Agency of Record

The supercar brand is celebrating 60 years and introducing its electric future

Jason Notte

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Jason Notte