Marketing Inscentives: BMW Uses Smellvertising to Woo Golf Pros

Movie stars aren't the only one getting pitched by brands in their hotel rooms.

Pro golfers are so popular, everybody wants a piece of them: fans, promoters, agents, coaches, reporters, brands, you name it. BMW is no different. It's sponsoring the BMW Championship, taking place in Lemont, Ill., from Sept. 15–18.

With so many pro golfers heading to the tournament, the host sponsor enticed them with a novel incentive to arrive a little early and take a spin in some BMWs. After all, a pro golfer is a very influential dude.

BMW seeded the process of luring the pros out to a track this weekend at an earlier event by giving out cologne scented like motor oil — yes, motor oil — at an earlier PGA event, above. But the follow-through was even smoother.

Around the bottle hung a small sign that read, “Do you know what driving 195 mph feels like? Well, this is how it smells. Get to the BMW Championship a little bit early to take one of our M cars out for a spin at the Autobahn Country Club.”

A reminder awaits when the golfers check into their hotel room for this weekend’s event — what looks like skid marks coming out from under their hotel sink with the message: "Before you hit the course, join us at the track to burn some rubber. BMW invites you to the Autobahn Country Club."

Interested golfers would then be whisked for a spin on a closed track with pro drivers Bobby Rahal and Joey Hand riding shotgun.

Credit the Baldwin& agency of Raleigh, NC  for helping BMW Golf come up with a branded experience that's likely a lot more fun than plenty of the other offers PGA golfers typically get when they show up to events.