Dr. Jens Thiemer
101 Great Minds on Music Brands and Behavior
Dr. Jens Thiemer, Senior Vice President of Customer and Brand, BMW Group
Currently serving as the Senior Vice President of Customer and Brand at the BMW Group, Dr. Jens Thiemer is an industry intellect. Prior to joining the BMW Group, Jens was the Marketing and Communications Vice President at Mercedes-Benz Cars. An extraordinarily progressive and versatile leader, he drives a unified vision of increasing BMW’s marketing and branding efficiency framework. With a proven track record of streamlining strategic structures, Dr. Thiemer’s career spans 20 years across various managerial positions.
“Brand identity should appeal to as many senses as possible to create a strong emotional aura. The sound component should play an important role and be developed in a consistent, sustainable manner.”
— DR JENS THIEMER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER AND BRAND, BMW GROUP
Reese: Why is there such growing importance of sound in the digital age? Look at the explosion of podcasts; tech-driven innovation like noise-canceling headphones; screenless ecosystems like Alexa or Google Home; and Clubhouse, etc.
Dr. Jens Thiemer: Sound and, more generally, the hearing of sounds, noises, voices, tones, and melodies is and remains one of the most important sensual experiences for people. Over the last few decades, it has become apparent that, not least due to digitalization, a wide range of new possibilities are opening up – which I find very appealing from the point of view of a marketeer. In addition, the global Corona pandemic has also had an impact on the various growth areas in this field, as the changed circumstances in many parts of the world have led to an increase in media consumption. As a result, there is a growing interest in new, innovative media and streaming formats, which is one of the reasons for the hype behind Clubhouse.
Reese: Looking at BMW’s sonic footprint, specifically with regards to your cooperation with Hans Zimmer, we would like to know how you arrived at the final result? Can you draw back the curtain and take us on a journey through the entire process?
Thiemer: In the past few years, we have fundamentally realigned the BMW brand's sponsorship and experiential portfolio, identifying music and sound as a strategic focus area. In 2017, we entered a global partnership with the Coachella music festival, and as part of this partnership, we worked with various artists and bands, including Hans Zimmer, who played at the festival with his orchestra at the time. The collaboration was very inspiring and stimulating, so we continued to pursue common ideas beyond the festival. With the increasing importance of e-mobility, we eventually came to the topic of driving sounds and the emotional significance of these, for which all-electric vehicles open up a totally new range of possibilities. Hans Zimmer was enthusiastic about this ‘white canvas’ opening up, and since then, a close collaboration with our in-house sound designers has been going on under the name IconicSounds Electric, with Hans Zimmer acting as a trusted and inspiring curator and creator.
Reese: As a leader in the space, what where the main learnings for you?
Thiemer: We try to make the framework conditions for the collaboration with Hans Zimmer as open as possible. Although there are very specific requirements from our colleagues in the R&D department when it comes to sounds in and around the vehicle, they should not restrict the initial creative process. This is the only way we can succeed in creating something truly unique, holistic, and outside the box.
Reese: What will be the role of sonic in mobility/electrification?
Thiemer: On the one hand, e-mobility brings new kinds of obligations in the area of sound, such as acoustic pedestrian protection, which is intended to ensure that pedestrians and other participants on the road hear and perceive an approaching e-vehicle at an early stage. On the other hand, however, exciting new possibilities arise in which these obligations are not just seen as a law to be fulfilled but rather as an opportunity to give the vehicle an individual character and thus provide drivers and other people on the road with a bit of added emotionality. The goal is not to create a copycat of conventional combustion engine sounds but rather completely new sound shapes of another kind.
Reese: Would you grant us a peek into the future of sound/sonic at BMW?
Thiemer: For us, the goal for the future is to take the emotional heritage and DNA of the BMW brand in the area of sound into a new era with e-mobility. What used to be the iconic sounds of the famous BMW 4-cylinder engines, the inline 6-cylinder engines or the V12 engines will, in the future, be highly emotional sound creations out of our IconicSounds Electric collaboration.
Reese: What will be the role of sonic in autonomous driving?
Thiemer: Considering highly automated driving, there are many promising opportunities for new ways of integrating sounds in and around the vehicle. Especially when it comes to human-machine interaction, the purposeful use of sounds can offer great added value and make the multi-sensual user experience in these areas of application even more emotional and compelling.
Reese: What is your main advice to your fellow CMOs when looking at approaching sonic branding for their brand, arriving at a solution that is future-proof?
Thiemer: As always, authenticity is key! If there are links in the history of the brand – however small they may be – it is certainly worthwhile to research and, based on this, to try to create a credible connection to the present time and the future.
Reese: Looking at your end-to-end customer experience, what has been and what are your biggest challenges in terms of sonic (voice, music, sound, etc.)?
Thiemer: The more we talk about end-to-end performance marketing and data-driven sales-funnel logics, the more important it becomes to incorporate emotional brand qualities into these areas as well. Not using the content of conquest-oriented marketing measures across all funnel stages would be wasted potential. Whilst we hope that our efforts and partnerships in the area of sound and music will help us to reach new target groups, this does not mean, of course, that the content is not also relevant for our existing customers. So, the challenge here is to deliver the right content to all customers and fans at the right time, regardless of what stage of the customer journey they are in.
Reese: What is of most importance when finding the voice of a brand, specifically with regards to BMW?
Thiemer: We are constantly trying to develop the brand, to position it in the current social environment and zeitgeist. In the past, there was a tendency to view the attributes and identity of a brand rather statically and, in some cases, to restrict them severely in order to create as stable a position as possible. Today, it is more of a flowing development in which one sets clear guardrails but still defines the necessary freedom within them. Similar to the development of a personality, it is important that a character can develop, and this character must then be shaped, i.e., in their manner and in their habitat as well as visually in their appearance, and finally, also audio-wise in terms of voice and tonality of the brand.
Reese: How important will smart speakers and screenless ecosystems become, specifically in terms of sales?
Thiemer: This will be exciting to observe. Audio-driven gadgets are increasingly leading to a seamless fusion of the living environment with digital content and offerings. What so far has been ‘right at your fingertips’ will increasingly be complemented by ‘reading the wish from your lips’. In this respect, a seamless and customer-friendly embedding of these gadgets in our brand ecosystem is important in order to be able to maintain a dialogue with customers and fans via these channels as well.
Reese: In that respect, how important will it be for a brand to have a sonic identity?
Thiemer: I always was, and continue to be, of the opinion that brand identity should appeal to as many senses as possible in order to create a strong emotional aura. For this reason, the sound component should also play an important role and be developed consistently and in a sustainable manner with the brand. The tools that are now available for this have increased and go far beyond traditional elements such as sound logos or jingles – this is what I consider will give the area such a compelling role.
“The goal is not to create a copycat of conventional combustion engine sounds but rather completely new sound shapes of another kind.”
Note: The interview took place in Munich, Germany on the 12th of May 2021.
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