BMW BLOG

Despite the poor financial situation, designers leaving ship or new concepts being heavily criticized, BMW manages to snag three awards from the annual Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards.

“The 2009 Brand Image Awards, presented to the top brands in 10 categories, are based on consumer automotive perception data from Kelley Blue Book Market Research’s Brand Watch study. Brand Watch is an online brand perception tracking study tapping into 12,000+ in-market new-vehicle shoppers annually on Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com.”

In a select company, BMW wins three awards: Best Exterior Design Brand -Luxury, Coolest Brand and Best Performance Brand. Now, let’s see how KBB describes these awards:

Best Exterior Design Brand -Luxury – Describing BMW’s exterior styling as polarizing is like describing the early 2009 economy as difficult. But as great designs will do, the so-called “flame surfacing” found across the lineup continues to gain more and more acceptance and admiration (and win more awards). Parking next to a BMW, fans of the brand’s styling will contend, is a sure way to make most any competitor look boring.

Coolest Brand – What’s cool to the kids is often irrelevant to their elders. And what’s cool to those elders is usually treated as toxic by the kids. Not BMW, though. The German automaker’s sporty, stylish and snootier-than-average cars and crossovers are as cool and desirable to not-yet-licensed tweens as they are to young-at-heart retirees.

Best Performance Brand – Fill in the blanks: The Ultimate ______ ______. A key reason that BMW’s long-running tagline is so recognizable and effective (as evidenced to some degree by this award), is that its cars consistently deliver on the promise. From the company’s high-performance M vehicles to its three-row crossover, every single vehicle wearing a BMW badge is among the quickest, most agile vehicles in its category.

KELLEY BLUE BOOK’S 2009 BRAND IMAGE AWARD WINNERS

Best Value Brand: Toyota
Coolest Brand: BMW
Most Family-Friendly Brand: Toyota
Most Rugged Truck Brand: Ford
Best Performance Brand: BMW
Best Comfort Brand: Cadillac
Best Exterior Design Brand – Luxury: BMW
Best Exterior Design Brand – Non-Luxury: Nissan
Best Interior Design Brand: Cadillac
Best Prestige Brand: Mercedes-Benz