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Wireless, surfboard-shaped kiosk key to BMW campaign

BMW is readying a new sporty vehicle, and with it comes a groundbreaking new kiosk, the X3 Lite. These kiosks fold down, are wireless and have a changeable graphic face that can change with content.

December 9, 2004

BMW is known as a company that sees value in self-service. The Virtual Sales Center is an oft-cited use of kiosk technology. But the organization has a whole new goal for its groundbreaking new kiosk, the X3 Lite. These kiosks are completely portable (they fold down), are wireless, and have a graphic face that can change along with content.

BMW is not confining these kiosks to the car showroom. These will be in public spaces throughout key markets where hip, active consumers might be. The kiosks are promoting a brand new car, the X3 Sports Activity Vehicle, which BMW will launch late this month.

Already 160 kiosks have been deployed. There will eventually be 200 kiosks in the market, in such places as Wyndam Hotels, the Jet Blue terminal in John F. Kennedy Airport, ESPN Zone and Virgin Megastores. Frank Mayer & Associates built the enclosure and Netkeysupplies the software. Dedicated Computing provides the 17-inch touchscreen monitor. Reality Pictures produces all of the kiosk's interactive content. The vendors would not disclose the cost of the kiosk.

"The goal of the project is twofold," said Bob Plante, manager of Virtual Sales Center for BMW. "We want to create a buzz around the launch of the new vehicle, and we want to collect the names of prospective buyers."

BMW's X3 Lite public kiosk

Moving out

Plante said BMW has toyed with the idea of placing kiosks out of the showroom for some time. "The impetus comes from our salespeople. They say the VSCs are great in terms of providing content, but that kiosks also need to be somewhere else, driving people into the showrooms."

He added, "When the X3 came along, we thought, `well, now is the time to try something different.' The vehicle is sporty, innovative. I put it out to vendors to match that attitude with the kiosk." The VSCs still remain a core of BMW's retail sales strategy.

Plante said when he first started thinking about putting self-service terminals in public spaces, he thought, "Why not make the front of the unit a big sign that can change with the content?"

Angela Zapka, vice president at Frank Mayer, said, "Everybody has graphics and signage on the fronts of their kiosks. But the kiosks always look the same. We've created a tool that actually speaks to the message of the content, whatever that might be." She said the whole face of the X3 Lite kiosk broadcasts branding information before users even touch a screen.

Kim Takal, creative director and president of Reality Pictures, said the environment in which the units are placed is noisy and busy. The challenge is to captivate people. Reality decided to go with an all-visual approach.

"Audio can drive people crazy. The droning away would drive employees in the area nuts. So we had to attract users without sound," he said. That is achieved with the graphic face that people can see from far away, and large graphic words like information in road signs on the touchscreen.

"We have to interest people all the way up until they are asked to give their names and e-mail addresses. We have to make them say, `absolutely,' to that request," Takal said. Plante would not disclose the number of prospective buyers' names collected to date, but said BMW is "overjoyed" with the response, especially prior to the unveiling of the car.

Another design challenge was the idea of making the kiosk portable. Plante said, "Frank Mayer took the idea to the next level and made it fold-down so it could actually fit in an X3."

Said Zapka, "We had to research the appropriate hardware and then engineer the unit to fold down. It's pretty amazing from an enclosure perspective: that this kiosk is so portable considering the hardware required to accomplish BMW's requested functionality including the wireless technology and full motion video."

With portability, connectivity became the next issue. Said Plante, "I had some ideas about using wireless. But I knew Wi-Fi realistically is a few years away. We worked out a different way with Netkey." That way includes cooperating with local telecom providers. Plante said the connectivity method is proprietary.

He said with the wireless functionality, truck drivers literally deliver the units, plug them in, turn on the computers and leave. "Then we can see them light up on the Netkey network within 20 minutes," he said. Using Netkey software, BMW can remotely update content, and check the health and heartbeat of the units.

Bob Ventresca, director of marketing at Netkey, said the X3 Lite represents the industry's largest wireless deployment.

"We put together the wireless capability. It was a unique challenge. And the technology will be proven in the market," he said. "When you see a large company like BMW using wireless, you know the technology is rapidly gaining acceptance."

Plante said eventually, the kiosks will be used by the dealers. "They have events like golf outings all the time. Wouldn't it be nice to have kiosks there, with all that great content?"

Zapka said the black shelf on the X3 Lite changes out so the unit can be used with other applications. Frank Mayer is currently working on a shelf with a keyboard, and a shelf that includes a keyboard and iDrive, a stick-shift-like console that gives users the feeling of controlling functions inside an automobile.

Zapka said, "This kiosk is a sharp, smart tool. It'll be a real workhorse for BMW."

See related story, "BMW...awarded at Retail Systems,"

[Editor's note: Info Touch Technologies became Tio Networks in April 2006.]

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Frank Mayer and Associates

Kiosk Design | Manufacturer

Frank Mayer Kiosks and Displays specializes in large-scale rollouts of custom digital kiosks for enterprise and growth-oriented brands. With a relentless focus on premium design, customization, and end-to-end service, we manufacture self-service customer engagement solutions that expand market reach, boost sales, and enhance brand equity.

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