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COVER STORY
BMW Asia’s dynamic marketing director Lito German uses his boundless
enthusiasm to continually surprise the brand’s über-demanding customers.
Jaimie Seaton takes a drive with him.
ito German began his formal career
with BMW when the president of the
luxury car brand in the Philippines fired
him in 2003.
German, a native Filipino, had been
consulting for BMW and had organised a golf
event for the company with two presidents: Mark
Gilbert, then head of BMW in the Philippines, and
Fidel Ramos, then president of the Philippines.
“I guess he was impressed that I managed
to arrange that,” recalls German (pronounced
Heer-man) from his office in Singapore. “Mark
called me a few days later and said, ‘I don’t want
you to simply consult for us, I want to hire you full
time’. So I figured if I was going to be fired, I may
as well be hired,” German recalls with a laugh.
Today, German is marketing director for
BMW Asia, a position he was literally born to hold.
Sitting in the company’s Asian headquarters
overlooking Keppel Bay, he recalls a childhood
steeped in marketing – his father ran an ad
agency and often brought his work home with
him.
“I was surrounded by ad people, creative
people, it also ran in my blood, so I had both
nature and nurture,” German explains.
“Every dinner was a focus group, my father
would run tag lines by us, he would show us
campaigns he had done.
“More importantly, he showed us campaigns
that didn’t work. I guess that’s the first thing I
was taught: to be able to distinguish between a
good campaign and a bad one.”
Although reared in advertising, German says
his father never pushed him into the business. It
was simply part of their everyday conversation,
and the young man showed an interest.
Despite his upbringing, German took a
circuitous route to his career. He started in
executive recruitment, saying that he loved
people and that the process of finding someone
a job was a great feeling.
Eventually he ended up running the recruiting
firm, and simultaneously (again because he
loved people) opened a bar and restaurant. It
was conveniently located across the street from
his office in Manila, so German could run back
and forth.
The bar is where he honed his event skills.
When friends started booking private events,
German made sure they were taken care of.
“The bar was a hobby,” explains German,
“but I was always personally involved in
organising special events. I wanted to make sure
they ran properly.
“I came up with ideas of what would be fun,
seeing what worked and what didn’t work. It’s
Artdirection:ShahromKamarulzaman,
Photography:JamesOng–www.takestudio.com.sg
In the driver’s seat: Lito German at
the recent BMW 6 Series Convertible
private launch in Singapore.
C O V ER S TO R Y

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COVER STORY
those little details that help you. After a while you
get a sense of what works and you can rely on
past experience. I guess that’s where it really
started for me.”
In 1998 German closed the bar, left recruiting
and joined his father at his marketing and PR firm
Agents International, which did and still does
handle numerous multinational clients in the
Philippines. German became involved with many
of them, including Coca-Cola, Pfizer and BMW.
Eventually the dynamic marketing man
branched out on his own, consulting for clients
such as BMW, until he was ceremoniously fired
and hired on the same day in 2003.
He started as the corporate communications
manager for BMW Philippines.
“I had a strong PR background,” German
says. “I was a journalist as well and wrote
two columns on motoring and golf, two of my
passions. So PR came naturally to me and I had
the contacts.”
Eventually his role was expanded to PR and
marketing director. Still based in the Philippines,
German worked on several projects at BMW’s
headquarters in Germany and ran the company’s
involvement in Formula 1 for the first two years
in Singapore. In 2008, German joined BMW Asia
as area manager based in Singapore and the
next year was promoted to his current position
of marketing director.
The BMW Group achieved record revenues
and earnings in 2010 with revenues climbing by
19.3% to US$84.7 billion (2009: US$70.98) and
a record net profit for the year of US$4.48 billion
(2009: US$280 billion). Discussing the company’s
strategy and how he interprets it to fit with his
own philosophy of events, German is relaxed,
confident and soft-spoken. He and his staff of 10
coordinate and oversee events throughout the
region; they put on roughly 30 events last year.
The marketing teams of local importers and
dealers also undertake events; and the company
works extensively with event agencies, including
ModernAge, Procon and Kawan.
“One of the things I admire most about BMW
is the way we structure our events,” German
explains.
“Obviously we have a worldwide template,
but given the diversity of the markets we’re in,
it’s rather general and we are free to interpret
and adapt.
“There are straight cultural differences that
make it very difficult for us to apply a one-shot
template. Cocktails, for example, don’t work in
certain markets. We don’t hold cocktail events in
Brunei because alcohol is generally not allowed
there. So we hold more afternoon events. But
barring those basic differences, the mindset of
the BMW customer is the same everywhere.”
Interpretation and creativity are encouraged
at all levels of the marketing function, right down
to the dealer level. “A lot of good ideas come
from the guys on the front line,” German says.
The various interpretations and adaptations
are shared through the company’s best-
practice exchange, which is an integral part of
the process. Events are designed with three
purposes in mind: loyalty, brand-building and
conquest, but the objective of each event can
vary depending on the target audience as well
as the car model.
Regardless of the objective, German always
begins the process with one question: What
would it be if it were a BMW? For example, if
The ultimate experience: BMW drives its audiences to distraction with its promotion for its BMW 5 Series Sedan launch in Singapore.
they were creating a barbecue event, what
would it be if it were a BMW barbecue?
“The brand is strong enough that you
create a lot of expectations from the get-go,”
German says. “If we say it’s a BMW sailing
event, automatically the customers already have
images in their head, and they already have a
certain expectation. Now knowing this, the
second question we ask is, how do we exceed
those expectations? The question focuses us
immediately.”
LOYALTY
Thanks to formidable expectations from the
target audience, German and his team must
continually up the ante with loyalty events.
“At this point it takes more effort to show them something
new about the brand. It’s almost like throwing a surprise party
for your best friend or your husband, because you’re so engaged
with them all the time. You can use what they love to
your advantage, but at the same time it’s difficult to find
something that you haven’t done before, to surprise them.”
Lito German – marketing director for BMW Asia
A driver’s paradise: More than 25,000 people wandered into BMW World at Marina Bay Sands to look at heritage cars through to BMW’s latest models.

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GOOD EVENT MANAGEMENT
Beyond simply planning for the best while preparing for the worst, there are more
things to consider when organising and managing an event. Here are a few basics
that have helped Lito German through the years.
1. COVERAGE
Great events extend their reach beyond the
venue’s doors or dates. Effective invitation
delivery or sometimes even just a personal
“thank you” note strengthens recall and sustains
share of mind.
2. CONSISTENCY
Create an atmosphere and stick to it. Every
element in your event – food, lighting, music,
set-up and even speeches should come together
to support your selected ambience.
3. CREATIVITY
It’s a crowded landscape and your target market
is no doubt someone else’s as well. As such, an
event concept has to often push the boundaries
to create consumer interest while still keeping
within the event budget.
4. CONVERSATION
Focus conversation around the main subject
of your event. While it’s good to have a few
“gimmicks”, take care that these don’t become
a distraction to your message. For example, it
would be a shame to have your guests raving
about the entertainment, while forgetting
what you had invited them for in the first
place.
5. CUSTOMER ORIENTATION
Always do a run-through from your guest’s point
of view. This will help you decide where to put
the directional signs or when to serve the main
dish. After all, while you may be familiar with
the venue, your guests might be seeing it for
the first time. And it’s important to understand
that not everyone will like to listen to an hour of
speeches on an empty stomach.
“These are people who already know our
brand, and I might even say that the majority
of them know more about the car than some
of our guys here,” German says. “They’re real
enthusiasts, they invest a lot of money in what
they love.
“We have to come at it with that respect.
At this point it takes more effort to show them
something new about the brand. It’s almost like
throwing a surprise party for your best friend or
your husband, because you’re so engaged with
them all the time. You can use what they love to
your advantage, but at the same time it’s difficult
to find something that you haven’t done before,
to surprise them.”
German says maintaining that relationship
means keeping it fresh, while providing what the
customer loves about the brand. Facets of the
brand will stay consistent throughout, but there
is always an effort to show the customer new
sides to it.
The crux of their loyalty campaigns is driving
events, often held at Sepang, home of the
Malaysian Grand Prix. Owners are also flown
to Australia, Germany and Austria for driving
events.
“We have to give them the opportunity to fully
enjoy and exploit the potential of the vehicles,”
German says.
But for the typical BMW enthusiasts, driving
the cars is just the beginning.
“Owners like to be surrounded by car guys.
We give them a lot of opportunities to network
and interact with each other, and with various
people in our group. Whenever possible, we’ll
bring in a designer to a launch, so he can explain
what he was thinking with the design.
“The important thing is to give [the owners]
more conversation, to give them the credibility
and confidence to say, ‘did you know the reason
my car is shaped this way is because of this?’”
AN ICONIC BRAND
BMW is one of those brands that come with
immediate and visceral emotions attached.
For many, it’s a symbol of success, virility and
power. German says the challenge is to move
beyond this.
Hot rod: Modelling the latest BMW in Mongolia.

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“The brand has so many facets. The easily
recognisable ones revolve around dynamism,
innovation – and people almost expect that. The
challenge is to give them more facets, so it’s more
than just a two-dimensional brand to people,
and it’s not just about luxury or performance, but
to actually show them different sides, and at the
very core of that is joy.
“BMW is all about joy and joy is BMW, as
we say. From a branding perspective in terms of
events, that [premise] gives us so many ways to
develop and interpret.”
Two of their biggest branding events in the
region took place last year in Singapore. Joy 3D
created Asia’s first interactive 3D projection (on
Suntec Towers 2 and 3). Over two consecutive
nights in May, the towers were brought to life,
with messages of joy, whimsical animation and
cars. (Watch the video at www.bmw.com.sg).
BMW World was a re-creation of BMW
Welt, a brand centre located at the company’s
headquarters in Munich. The event covered
50,000sq feet of space at the Marina Bay Sands,
and showcased heritage cars to the latest models
and concept cars. Over six days in November,
more than 25,000 people attended the event,
which also had private parties for VIP guests.
“Having 25,000 people visit us just shows
the inspirational aspect,” German says.
“The objective was engagement and the
viral effect of the event was awesome. People
were having conversations about what cars they
loved best. At a certain point, it was no longer
generated by us; it just took on a life of its own.
“Generating that conversation is always
good for us.”
CONQUEST
When it comes to expanding the customer base,
German says the conversation is exploratory.
“Admittedly, we come closer to our brand
facets and we stick very closely to what we
represent,” German explains. “Here it’s really
about the experience: of us, our products, our
services – and experiencing us to the highest
level possible.” There is always a conquest
portion to product launches, albeit on a very
exclusive basis. BMW has an ongoing campaign
Making waves: The launch of the BMW X1 at the WaveHouse in Singapore last summer drew plenty of admirers.

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with the Fairmont hotel in Singapore, where 10
VIP customers are invited to cook with the head
chef. They then each invite 10 guests to come
and enjoy what they cooked.
“It’s the perfect referral programme for
us because very successful people have very
successful friends,” German says. There is
no prerequisite that the guests are not BMW
owners, but it tends to work out that way.
“There’s a sense of ‘look what my brand is
doing for me’. If you invite another BMW guy,
it doesn’t impress as much because they are
receiving the same treatment,” says German
laughing.
“We always try to give takeaway value,
where they walk away saying, ‘wow I learned this
because of BMW’”.
German believes the key to the success of
the campaign is the social credibility aspect.
“Social credibility is universal, the social
networking phenomenon is built upon it.
These days it’s not really what I own but
more importantly, what I know and what I’ve
experienced. It’s easy to own something, but
more interesting when you know something
about it.”
Currently the campaign is only in Singapore,
but it may be rolled out to other markets
because of its tremendous success and positive
feedback. Looking for the X-factor: People gather at the launch of the BMW X3 in Singapore. If the cap fits: Graeme Grieve, vice president of importer markets for BMW, gets behind the wheel of the car simulator to show off his driving skills.
HALF FULL KIND OF GUY
German has the air of a man who loves his work
and knows he’s good at it, but work is not what
defines him. In his spare time he used to race rally
cars, but now he waxes poetic about his love of
riding motorcycles (he’s expecting delivery of a
new F 800 R); often drives up to Malaysia with
his family for a day of golf and enjoys whipping
up traditional Filipino dishes in the kitchen.
He confesses one of the best things about
his job is experiencing the product, and to
change cars often. He is currently driving an X5
so he can ferry his three children to school. He
calls the X5 “really handy” but admits he also has
a Z4 sDrive35is for fun. “That’s a beautiful car,”
he says with a blissful look on his face.
Aside from direct access to some fast toys,
German says what he also loves about his job
is meeting great people – be they colleagues or
clients.
“One of the first questions I ask my customer
is, ‘what do you do, because you must do it
rather well to be driving what you’re driving’,” he
relates with another laugh.
Ascheduledone-hourinterviewhasstretched
to two, and as the corporate affairs person taps
his watch, German is asked about his apparently
endless confidence and enthusiasm.
He responds with a characteristic chuckle.
“Obviously, you can never plan for everything,
but we try and stay as positive as possible. I’ve
always been the guy who sees the glass half
full.
“To be honest, nothing ever works perfectly,
but I’d like to think that seeing things go wrong
teaches us to make things better the next time.
“We’ve gone through some really big
challenges on some memorable events, but I
can look back now and say it wasn’t as bad as
we thought it was then. In fact, it always turned
out to be pretty good.”