Divyanathan back on BMW

Singapore - Following the departure of BMW's director of marketing Julia Esterer, Ramesh Divyanathan has been called back to Singapore to replace her in a regional role - handling both BMW and Mini brands.

Divyanathan sees himself as the "guardian of the brand" and in his new role, oversees markets including Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. He joined the company in 1995, and was corporate communications director in Singapore before he moved to Germany three years ago as head of search engine marketing.

Divyanathan brought back his expertise in search marketing and included it in the latest BMW campaign for its 1-Series launch, which also encompassed the use of print ads and online marketing.

The campaign was geared towards a younger audience, with the aim to educate the public about the new product as well as invite people to go to their website and register for a party at One Fullerton or for a test drive the day after on the city streets around Reflections at Keppel Bay. Considered informal by BMW standards, it attracted close to a thousand people - more than double the amount of guests Divyanathan expected for the event.

A second test drive followed in May at the Singapore Air Show venue, where circuit drivers and trainers were available to encourage visitors to push the cars to their limits.