the same time as Stephan Schaller ( Managing Director BMW Motorrad 2012-2018 ). Together , we managed to take the design strategy to a new level . He understood the potential of emotional design and together we started with a new kind of concept bike . When we presented the first Concept Ninety at Villa d ’ Este in 2013 , the motorbike world was totally surprised , we had really managed to convey pure emotion . Schaller thought it was cool , because all of a sudden the whole BMW-group had taken notice of us . By the way , Roland Sands built the bike , but the design came from our Munich studio .
BRAND STRATEGY “ Dr . Markus Schramm ( Managing Director BMW Motorrad since 2018 ) is a real motorbike freak and had previously made a name for himself in the car division as chief strategist . He brought his brand strategy to Motorrad as a new component and linked it to the design strategy . This logic has proven to be very successful . “ In the past it was about building and selling motorbikes , today you have to give people experiences . When I started at BMW , our machines were functional and reliable . But sure , function is hygiene : if it says BMW on it , it has to work , and they do that extremely well now . And today you can buy the image of the
cool guy who has a muddy GS Adventure or a casual R18 in front of his house with our bikes . This brand strategy is carried throughout the company , everyone in the team lives it . But you don ’ t learn motorbike design at university , all our employees are motorbike nerds , most of them have a lot of experience from racing or as mechanics .
Could you explain to us what the BMW motorbike design is all about ? “ Well , there are companies that focus more on the family feeling , where all models have certain similarities across the board . You can do that , but we prefer a segment-typical design language and certain visual features that we use for certain models . “ For the GS , for example , that would be Rough and Tough with basic geometric shapes familiar from the outdoor sector . Now look at the cases of an RT and a GS : they have the same functionality , but have to look different , for the GS preferably like an ammunition box , the RT cases are aerodynamic and high quality . Everyone recognises what comes across as visually dangerous , dynamic , boring or reassuring . The CE-04 , for example , speaks an urban , almost architectural language of form ; the CE-02 borrows from childish schemes : nice ,
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