At BMW, I don’t get to drive sexy sportscars all the time - only sometimes!

STORY BY Sethipong Anutarasoti, General Manager - Marketing, BMW Thailand

One of my 'petrolhead' friends has always been envious that I work for a legendary car brand like BMW, because I’m always one of the first few people to drive new BMW models, be it the sleek-looking BMW i8, the powerful M5, or even classics like the E30 M3 at special events. However, when I try to explain that it’s not the bed of roses he thinks it is, he always finds it hard to believe.

The reality is, I am no different from what a nude photographer goes through at work everyday. Taking photos of beautiful, naked models sounds like every guy’s dream job, but insiders will realise it’s not at all like what everyone thinks. Professional photographers are far more concerned about the lighting, camera angles and all the post-production work involved in touching-up the photos before they consider their work to be done. That’s the same predicament that I face!

At BMW, I don’t get to drive all those sexy cars all the time -; well, we do, only sometimes. Like any other white-collar executive, I spend most of my time stuck in meetings, preparing boring presentation decks and crunching out numbers for that dreaded month-end business report for the boss!

Naturally, I do like cars to begin with and I can’t imagine how life would have been if I didn’t. Likewise, in the case of nude photographers, they probably cannot hate staring at naked bodies. Otherwise, it would be like living hell for them.

As the saying goes, 'If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.'

That said, being passionate about what you do isn’t a must, but it is a plus! Believe it or not, I have a team member who enjoys proof-reading brochures and technical specification sheets that are often up to 70-pages long. So, you can probably imagine how meaningless life could be for him if he didn’t enjoy what he’s doing.

Passion is what connects us to our customers, especially at BMW. Because our customers are usually car lovers who enjoy speaking to like-minded people who share their passion. So, it helps to be speaking the same language.

Last month we held #bimmermeet for the 3rd time in Bangkok. This is the largest gathering of BMW fans that showcases nearly 500 cars and attended by about a thousand people. Some of them had even travelled from as far as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore! And I truly enjoyed speaking to them. The feeling was simply phenomenal because we share the same passion for BMW cars, both old and new. Through this event, we forged friendships and have since become one big family.

When I bumped into that same 'petrolhead' friend again during #bimmermeet, he was still convinced that I have the best job in the world. And I believe I made things worse with my nude photographer analogy because he hasn’t called me since… Either that or he’s brushing up on his photography skills!

PHOTOS Courtesy of Sethipong Anutarasoti