Over the past three years, the BMW Car Club Gauteng has actively pursued various opportunities to market itself and its array of brand partners. It is hard to believe that there has been an area in which they were lacking, but Instagram proved to be it.
However, this has now been resolved, with the handle @BMWCarClubGauteng now being restored, albeit with a new account.
While the associated BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series has been active on Instagram for a while already, the old BMW Car Club Gauteng account has been dormant for quite some time. This has not been due to neglect of any sort, as Reynard Gelderblom, who heads up all digital marketing ventures for both the Club and Race Series, explains.
“Yes, we knew about the problem, but rectifying the issue was not an easy fix. Without delving into specifics, the old account faced restrictions from Meta due to a breach of community standards by a former supplier. After this was identified, we acted swiftly to implement safeguards to prevent a repeat occurrence and explore various avenues to correct the issue. The decision to create a new account, potentially losing the current following, was not taken lightly. However, with Instagram being one of the preferred social media platforms for the younger audience, we knew that we had to resolve this sooner rather than later. Those familiar with the various channels will also know that Instagram provides a more interactive experience, not merely for us as a club but also for our partners, members, and supporters.”
BMW Car Club Gauteng Chairman, Varish Ganpath, also elaborates on the importance of Instagram to the organisation.
“Yes, we take great pride in our visibility. It has become a key component of our mission, as we owe it to those supporting us, as well as to the BMW Car Clubs umbrella organisation, and to the BMW brand that we represent. We’ve gained some visibility on Instagram with certain content strategies overlapping between our very successful BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series and BMW Car Club Gauteng, but we don’t want to be perceived as merely a race series with a club of followers. The symbiotic relationship between the two requires both to be strongly visible.”
Moving forward, the BMW Car Club Gauteng Instagram account and linked Facebook page will serve as the primary distribution point for the club’s diverse range of events, which will include social gatherings, track days, skidpan autocross events, the annual Concours d’Elegance, breakfast runs, and more.
Ganpath concludes with some more insight into the club’s future strategies. “We now have a presence on all the major social media platforms utilised by South Africans, but rest assured, we won’t stop there. We are constantly exploring new ideas and opportunities, not guided by our own preferences, but by the direction our audience wants us to take.”