宝马终极利器亮相伦敦奥运会

    现在起到八月这段时间去美国各地的宝马经销店就能试驾一款宝马。如果是在“为美国队而驾”（Drive for Team USA）这一天去试驾，宝马公司还会向美国奥委会（the U.S. Olympic Committee）捐10美元。不过，你也许想不到，你会有25%的几率被这辆车打动，进而掏钱买下它。

    实际上，在去年的奥运会推广季中，每四个人中就有一个在参加试驾后购买了一辆宝马，使得“为美国队而驾”成为这家德国公司迄今为止最成功的事件营销活动。宝马北美区总裁兼首席执行官路德维格•威利士说：“这是我们开展过的最好的试驾活动。如果每年都开一次奥运会就好了。”

    除了为奥运会提供交通工具——4,000辆宝马汽车，以及为150名奥运选手和残奥会选手（其中11位来自美国；而宝马赞助最多的国家是英国）提供赞助外，宝马公司还为美国游泳队开发了全新的动作追踪相机软件，为美国田径队开发了测速工具。

    珍妮特•埃文斯是美国游泳运动员，也是宝马资助的对象之一。她说：“它是我见过的第一家真正关心运动员需求的赞助公司。”宝马在硅谷设有研发实验室。一年前，它开始接触运动员，询问他们，如何才能帮助他们提高成绩。美国十项全能运动员、卫冕冠军布莱恩•克莱称：“他们的态度是，‘我们擅长做这些，请告诉我们你们需要什么，我们要怎么做才能帮到你。’”

    宝马开发的技术让像克莱和埃文斯这样的运动员能更全面准确地了解，如果要全力以赴地游泳、奔跑、跳跃，他们需要怎么做。埃文斯调侃道，这种合作之所以奏效，是因为“我们就像精准调校的机器；宝马想的是如何在路上飞驰，而我想的是如何在泳池里游得更快”。

    U.S. decathlete Bryan Clay in a technology testing session with BMW engineers and sports scientists of the USOC and USA Track & Field

    If you were to head down to your local BMW dealership between now and August, you'd be able to test-drive a vehicle, and if you do it on a "Drive for Team USA" day, BMW will give $10 to the U.S. Olympic Committee just for your trouble. But what you wouldn't guess is that there's a 25% chance you'll give in and buy one.

    Indeed, during last year's Olympic promotion one out of every four people bought a BMW after taking it for a spin, making "Drive for Team USA" the German automaker's most successful event of this kind to date. Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO for BMW North America, says, "This has been the best test-drive we've ever done. There should be an Olympics every year."

    In addition to providing transportation vehicles during the Games -- 4,000 of them -- as well as financial backing to 150 Olympians and Paralympians (11 from the U.S.; the nation most represented by BMW sponsorship is the U.K.), the company has developed new motion-tracking camera software for USA Swimming and velocity-measuring tools for USA Track & Field.

    Janet Evans, an American swimmer and one of BMW's athletes, says, "This is the first corporate sponsor I've seen that really cares about what the athletes need." The German automaker, which has an R&D lab in Silicon Valley, approached athletes nearly a year ago and asked them what could make them better. "Their attitude was, 'Here's what we're good at, so tell us what you need and how we can help you,'" says Bryan Clay, American decathlete and defending Gold champion.

    The technology BMW came up with allows athletes like Clay and Evans - the latter jokes that the partnership works because, "We are like fine-tuned machines; they want to go fast down the road, I want to go fast in the pool" -- get a more comprehensive look at exactly what they need to tweak for their next lap, run, or jump.