BMW’s performance sub-brand M is the ultimate embodiment of BMW. With its 50 years heritage, BMW M has now become a powerful culture icon. When people see the three colors and stripe formation, they immediately think of BMW M. Nonetheless, in China, where racing culture is still very niche, consumers only relate BMW M to a premium sports car. In particular, young consumers don’t know about BMW M’s glorious racetrack achievements and the true meaning of M Power. So, in 2022, for BMW M’s 50th anniversary, BMW M wanted to strengthen its bond with young people by introducing them to its winning past. Without BMW M’s heritage, it is no different than Mercedes AMG and Audi RS. Our challenge was how to engage consumers with M Power when interest in racing culture is low?

The BMW M Street Salon captured the attention of young Chinese and got them talking about BMW M’s glorious past and its cultural icon status. M lovers said on social media "BMW is indeed a fashion brand", "the M1 cape is so amazing and “right now M1 is my dream car", "the common thing between M cars and hairstyles? The coolness".

With 10+ branded posts amplified by fashion bloggers, The BMW M Street Salon campaign drove 350k+ views and 5K+ engagements.

RED, China’s #1 fashion and lifestyle social media platform, grew 40% in the last two years, reaching 172M active users. Young people love to share and enjoy other’s daily fashion look on RED, from dressing codes to haircuts that are beyond time. And RED is a good platform to release fashion news and let others follow that trend.

The comeback of street barbershops is being driven by young Chinese seeking authenticity and a deeper understanding of what they do and own. Plus, it is just plain cool. That’s why it was the perfect match with BMW M.

We linked the BMW M Street Salon with BMW M’s heritage by focusing on five of the most iconic models:

1) 1973, 3.0 CSL, Hippy Fashion

2) 1978, E26 M1, Punk Fashion

3) 1986, E30 m3, Superstar Fashion

4) 2015, Z4 GTLM, Retro Fashion

5) 2021, M4 GT3, Meta Fashion