BMW has unveiled a new brand campaign titled ‘Meet Okto the Octopus’, featuring a video with a dancing octopus. This campaign serves as a metaphor for BMW’s latest technological advancement, the Heart of Joy central control unit.

The Heart of Joy will make its debut in the BMW Neue Klasse models at the IAA Mobility Show in September 2025. The central control unit is engineered to coordinate essential driving functions, including powertrain, brakes, recuperation, and certain steering functions. According to BMW, the new control unit processes driving information approximately ten times faster than previous systems and offers a more direct response to the driver.

The video, created by the Jung von Matt Hamburg agency, will be showcased online and in cinemas globally. In Australia, the campaign will be promoted across platforms such as YouTube, Meta, Cinema, and Broad Video on Demand (BYOD).

BMW Corporate Communications stated, “New BMW brand campaign uses dancing octopus to visualise the Heart of Joy central control unit.” The octopus in the video is portrayed as performing a “perfectly coordinated underwater choreography”. This is intended as an analogy for how the Heart of Joy will “intelligently coordinate key driving functions in future BMW vehicles, starting with the Neue Klasse models.”

The Heart of Joy is designed to work in conjunction with the BMW Dynamic Performance Control software stack. “The Heart of Joy combines with the BMW Dynamic Performance Control software stack to centrally control the powertrain, brakes and recuperation as well as some steering functions,” stated BMW Corporate Communications.

The Heart of Joy has already undergone its first public performance test at Auto Shanghai, as part of the BMW Vision Driving Experience. “The Heart of Joy passed its first public performance test at Auto Shanghai, as part of the BMW Vision Driving Experience,” according to BMW Corporate Communications.

BMW Group is recognised as a leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles, with a global sales network spanning more than 140 countries. In 2024, BMW reported sales of over 2.45 million passenger vehicles and more than 210,000 motorcycles worldwide. The company’s profit before tax in 2024 was €11.0 billion, with revenues amounting to €142.4 billion.