The 5th P = Porn

Recently I’ve read an article about Adrian van Hooydonk, BMW’s brand chief designer. This Dutch-born designer raced up the ranks at BMW from his first job sketching cars at BMW’s Munich studio to become BMW brand chief designer in only 12 years. Van Hooydonk, now 42, earned a degree in automotive design at the Art Center Europe in Vevey, Switzerland, in 1992. His fast-paced climb reflects the openness to fresh ideas and talent that makes BMW’s innovation engine hum constantly at high revs. In that article van Hooydonk mentioned a remarkable element of his perspective towards design.

See, BMW brand heritage goes way back. The brand is associated with beautiful cars since the beginning of the previous century when it first brought out its first car: the Dixi. BMW did not design this model but bought the Dixi factory and the Dixi name. It was available as a 2 seater and as a roadster. A standard Dixi had 15 horse power and a top speed of 85 km/h. The Dixi sport had a top speed of 105 km/h. It went out of production in 1932. Just the thought of driving a car at that speed must have brought some shivers down the spine of many car fanatics back then. Whether it was the thrill of riding at top speed or the fact that no one really owned a car alike back then that made people realised that the car was a classic – and it still is.

That is van Hooydonk’s entire point. He basically stated that design is not only about the creation of aesthetic pieces of art, although a very important aspect of the design, but foremost important: the car must have that intangible aspect, ‘touch’ if you like, that people would have to like it. If one achieve to implement that in the design, one would be achieving the classic status. A brand like BMW with a big historical heritage must be able to design classics, which means – cars that outlast the ‘hype’ and go around much longer. BMW’s brand chief designer obviously knows how to achieve this as he was personally responsible for the creation of the BMW Z9 concept car and the 7 series, which set the tone for the entire new ‘shark’ design generation of BMW’s.

On car shows van Hooydonks enjoys to watch his creations from a distance and see how the public react on them. A good design – he says: is a design that people don’t only want to see but a good design is something people must have to touch. If one cannot sit still than he’s – most obviously – moved by the design. That’s good – that’s the entire thing… there is where the fifth P comes in the equation.

The first time I’ve ever heard about marketing, was also the first time that I’ve heard about the marketing mix and the four ‘Ps’. The marketing mix is an equation, a sum of the marketing elements. A brief ‘recap’ of the basics of marketing tell us that for a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four “Ps” (price, product, place and promotion) must reflect the wants and desires of the consumers in the target market. For trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don’t want is extremely expensive and seldom successful. Sounds obvious, but believe me – there are people out there trying this every day! Therefore we depend on insights from marketing research, both formal and informal, to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Eventually we hope that this process will give us and our brands a sustainable competitive advantage. That sounds about right, although there is something missing in this analogy…

This same analogy came up during a conversation with a friend of mine. On the diner table he mentioned that the thing that was missing in the marketing mix equation is simply some ‘pornography’, hence the fifth ‘P’ – and I must agree. Sure, it’s commonly knowledge that sex sells – but what I am after is why sex sells. Sex and therefore pornography is in this case used as a metaphor for all the intangible assets that make the brand or product, or in this case a BMW car design, more attractive. Pornography has its natural attraction, especially for most of us men. Pornography makes up for the ‘wow’ factor of the product, or accordingly with the current hype in advertising: the ‘umpff’ of the product. A product with enough pornography makes it desirable and therefore makes us want to touch, feel or be part of it. Hence, pornography makes a car design not only good – but desirable. Desirable cars are worth remembering. Making it an endurable classic. Why does sex sell? Well, probably because it makes something desirable.

When van Hooydonks observes his creation from a distance, he’s probably looking for the reinsurance that he included just the right amount of pornography in his design. When numerous of people are touching one of his designs, he knows that a classic is born – Porn Eureka!

It has been emotional,

Alfredo Silva