The original Mini launch promotion.

11. Small Car, Great Show. MINI Marketing.

The MINI always hits the headlines wherever it appears,
even before a new model is introduced into the market.

Innovative marketing campaigns always good for a surprise and generating great appeal present both the MINI brand and the individual models with their full impact.

MINI marketing uses an exceptionally wide range of communication channels to establish close contacts with potential target groups. Supplementing classic activities in print media, on the radio and television, MINI's marketing experts developed innovative online activities right from the start tailored precisely to the modern, trend-minded and technology-oriented user of the world wide web and taking the options of interactive communication with the public into account.

Applying this philosophy, MINI sets new benchmarks time and again not only in the world of motoring, but also in the world of marketing. A very good example of this high-flying approach is the launch campaign for the new MINI Convertible: Eye-catching, quick-minded and tongue-in-cheek short films presented in the internet immediately highlighted the open-air driving character of the MINI Convertible, arousing great public response and broad recognition in the film and advertising industry.

MINI was also the world's first car maker to use an interactive print ad with a virtual 3D model. Applying this innovative augmented reality technology, MINI bridges the gap between the real and the digital world, between the two-dimensional print ad and the three-dimensional product. Only when the beholder has established an online connection to the www.mini.de/webcam website and receives the print ad on his computer's webcam does the new MINI Convertible appear on his screen as a virtual model – live and in all three dimensions.

Like on a stage, the new MINI Convertible is suddenly parked on the advertising site, true-to-detail 3D data of the car being connected with the live picture. Then, as soon as the ad is moved, the MINI Convertible will also move in parallel, naturally in real time. This allows the beholder to choose his perspective as he wishes, interacting playfully with the model.

Unconventional and unmistakable: MINI marketing as a genuine happening.

All MINI marketing activities show unmistakable style and have a high recall factor. A further feature is their high standard of artistic excellence, with renowned artists in the world of design and film regularly contributing their creativity to the MINI and the band.

Unconventional marketing is indeed of particular significance to MINI within the entire range of communication activities. Precisely this is why innovative and surprising concepts serve time and again when introducing new models to reach important target groups and generate a powerful public effect with great appeal.

Such campaigns often take on the character of an artistic happening, the most coveted prizes and awards regularly confirming the innovative character and wealth of ideas borne out in the brand's campaigns.

The classic Mini – the "Most Exciting Car in the World".

Innovative, self-confident, charming: right from the start the classic Mini clearly presented its exceptional character not only on the road, but also in a close dialogue with the public. From the early years classic marketing concepts were used consistently to present the special features of this revolutionary small car in truly convincing style. With a twinkle in the eye, even the very first sales brochures emphasised that the whole world had been waiting for the "Incredible Austin Seven", the letter "v" in "Seven" being replaced by the number "7". And the Austin's sister model, the Morris Mini-Minor, was presented just as proudly as the "Most Exciting Car in the World".

The Mini marketing experts also kept a close eye on the worldwide success of television, carefully using this new media also for the Mini. Special TV commercials were therefore produced for various purposes in the market, in all cases emphasising selected facets of the Mini's character and naturally considering the cultural context of the local public.

Whether as the perfect solution for congested traffic in downtown Paris or as the ideal means of transport to the beach in Australia – the Mini was always presented as the right car at the right place. Even in a cartoon it proudly presented its superiority, full of humour and again with that famous tongue-in-cheek style.

Making a new start with innovative ideas.

The re-launch of the brand in 2001 also marked a new beginning in marketing carefully prepared in parallel to the development of the car as such. The main challenge was to establish MINI as the first premium brand in the small car segment, with MINI to be positioned worldwide as a unique and fully independent brand in its own right – a brand revolving around the concept of enthusiasm and thrilling lifestyle.

These principles of brand management remain unchanged to this day, with the MINI characterised by its outstanding product substance and progressive technology, emotional design and agile driving behaviour as well as almost unlimited options in customising the car. A further significant point is finding and maintaining the right balance of continuity of a brand now going back 50 years and its innovative capacities.

Introducing the MINI, customers the world over for the first time had the opportunity to experience premium qualities in a small car. These outstanding qualities and features are indeed to be found in every model made by the brand, at the same time distinguishing MINI clearly from the competition.

The same applies to the brand's appearance in public, where all marketing tools follow a unique, consistently recognisable style. Graphic elements, colours, the language of pictures and the MINI concept conveyed in words and pictures are clearly defined. MINI is refreshingly different. Through its openness and self-confidence, the brand gains great acceptance, through its appearance it arouses curiosity and appeal.

To arouse the attention of the target group in mind right from the start prior to the market launch of the MINI, the responsible marketing experts have been taking a new approach in communication from the beginning. The magazine "MINI international", for example, regularly portrays selected cities around the globe, focusing on their particularly creative inhabitants.

Apart from classic communication, other innovative forms of communication such as "guerrilla marketing" are also used. And right from the start in the year 2000 MINI became the first car brand to use the internet not only as an information, but also as a positioning media for the product.

Modern technology providing new opportunities – also in marketing.

To this day technical progress in the area of communication has time and again opened up new opportunities in marketing – opportunities recognised and used very quickly by MINI in many cases.

Making a call on their mobile phone, for example, passers-by were able in 2006 to bring a poster presenting the MINI Cooper S to life. Under the motto "Wake Up the Bull", the enthusiast was also able to activate clouds of smoke coming out of the MINI's "nostrils".

MINI was also the first car maker to astound movie-goers with a virtual test drive presented in a cinema film in 2008 on the agile handling of the MINI Clubman. Applying elaborate tricks and special effects, this film interacted directly with the audience, enabling the movie-goer to influence the driving behaviour of the MINI shown in the film through his or her reaction.

An infra-red camera used for this purpose detected the viewers' movements, evaluating the information received within fractions of a second and changing the driving behaviour of the MINI accordingly. So that the MINI, driving dynamically along the screen, was not only an emotional, but also a physical experience for the audience.

Even before its world debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, the MINI Clubman had already hit the headlines through a number of unusual activities. Indeed, the new model was virtually omnipresent throughout Frankfurt during the entire show. Its rear view, for example, adorned the exit doors at the Airport Arrival Area. In downtown Frankfurt the same attractive view was to be admired on the doors leading to a number of trendy fashion shops. And near the Fairgrounds an installation of four upright cars dug into the ground up to their windscreen again attracted great attention. So following the world-famous Cadillac Ranch created in Amarillo, Texas, in 1974, the unusual rear-end design of the MINI Clubman came out in truly artistic style.

A genuine highlight in the literal sense of the word was the ten-floor-high light projection approximately 100 metres up the Frankfurt Fairground Tower. And last but not least, a MINI Clubman converted into a discotheque on wheels – "The Other Disco" – became a leading player not only in Frankfurt, but later also at music and fashion events in other cities.

Always good for a surprise: MINI installations in public areas.

Making a spectacular appearance in public areas, the MINI not always comes in its usual, ready-to-drive configuration. For ever since the re-launch of the brand in 2001, more than 170 true-to-scale fibre-glass models have been made and used for attractive campaigns in numerous countries.

Back in 2002, for example, the MINI travelled piggy-back on a big SUV through the USA, and a year later it was placed on a drawn catapult up on a poster wall in Canada. Alluding to the outstanding acceleration of the MINI Cooper, the poster requested the beholder to quickly fasten his seat belt. And in winter 2005/2006, finally, a seat for a full-sized MINI was reserved on the ski-lift in the Spanish skiing resort of La Molina.

MINI was of course a perfect host at the 2006 World Soccer Championships in Germany, the MINI Fan Hotel becoming a particularly exclusive place for fans and enthusiasts. Especially fans of the Brazilian Seleção and the Italian Squadra Azzurra just loved staying at the MINI Hotel Brazil and the MINI Hotel Italy. The more non-partisan aficionado, in turn, was able to choose the MINI Hotel International becoming one of the highlights two years later of the RADICAL ADVERTISING Exhibition on the occasion of the North-Rhine Westphalia Forum on Culture and Business in Düsseldorf.

A special activity giving the MINI brand genuine appeal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing remains a highlight to this very day: A special MINI was used in Beijing to offer both tourists and locals a truly intense and unforgettable driving experience. Riding in a MINI rickshaw – a blend of a bicycle and the MINI Clubman – passengers were able to travel in ideal style through the congested streets of Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games. Driven by the power of human muscle, this exciting vehicle moved with zero emissions through the streets, the MINI rickshaw offering a perfect combination of the lasting tradition and dynamic progress so typical of Beijing and China as a whole. Combined, of course, with that little bit of fantasy, individual style and humour so typical of MINI.

The new Mini-Fashion: Mini Special - Advertisement in 'Motorrad' 7/1977 by Leyland GmbH, Düsseldorf.