Our challenge was to begin to define the MINI brand in ways that could help it become an icon in the US that way it has been for so long in the UK. Our strategy for doing so was to communicate our core proposition, “true exhilaration at an attainable price” by showcasing our defining signature shape; creating multiple opportunities for people to come in contact with the new MINI; to subtly anthropomorphize MINI; to treat MINI enthusiasts not as a target but as ambassadors of the brand, and finally, to market MINI to a personality trait, or a mindset.

All advertising needed to be consistent with the above strategies. Our goals for print were to utilize titles we believed to be consistent with MINI as distribution vehicles for our creative content. Standard reach and frequency goals were thrown out the window, as we believed that the pieces would have a “viral” effect among consumers that could not be measured by traditional reach and frequency calculations.

Kerri Martin/MINI/Guardian of Brand SoulAlex Bogusky/CP+B/Creative DirectorAndrew Keller/CP+B/Vice President/Associate Creative DirectorLaura Bowles/CP+B/Vice President/Management Supervisor Our challenge was to begin to define the MINI brand in ways that could help it become an icon in the US that way it has been for so long in the UK. Our strategy for doing so was to communicate our core proposition, “true exhilaration at an attainable price” by showcasing our defining signature shape; creating multiple opportunities for people to come in contact with the new MINI; to subtly anthropomorphize MINI; to treat MINI enthusiasts not as a target but as ambassadors of the brand, and finally, to market MINI to a personality trait, or a mindset.

All advertising needed to be consistent with the above strategies. Our goals for print were to utilize titles we believed to be consistent with MINI as distribution vehicles for our creative content. Standard reach and frequency goals were thrown out the window, as we believed that the pieces would have a “viral” effect among consumers that could not be measured by traditional reach and frequency calculations. The solution was to distribute our “content pieces” within the pages of titles with editorial consistent with the MINI mindset and to augment our advertising investment with free publicity and buzz generating approaches.

Given small budgets, we realized that a limited number of titles would be affordable. Therefore, the plan started with specific PRIZM analysis to cull down a list of potential titles. Within the general demographic targets of A18-49 (male skew) HHI 50M+, we used three specific PRIZM clusters as well as some subjective judgement to select initial magazine categories.

From the initial list, we gathered ideas for branding tie-ins as well as negotiated rates and logistics for the MINI content inserts. Each insert was evaluated separately, as well as unique ROP and branding tie-ins. The resulting plan reflected content distribution of some 26 million inserts in a total of 20 titles. Creatively, the pieces brand MINI in a different way. They speak to the attitudes of the MINI mindset and playfully mock the idea of “traditional” advertising. They vary from a “Book of Motoring”, which extols the virtues and attitudes of a MINI “motorer”, to an unscented air freshener to be placed in a car, to a “colorform” type detail sticker, which allows the reader to customize and re-customize his or her own MINI. As far as unique ROP units, “Cornering” features a MINI traveling on a 1” “road” on the top and right hand side of the magazine page with the headline “Nothing Corners Like a MINI”. The “Staples” slalom ad is a traditional center-spread unit executed non-traditionally. The staples in the center of the saddle stitched publications become part of the ad. The pubs agreed to use orange staples to represent slalom cones. Our MINI is shown speeding around them as though on a slalom course.

Several magazines created units that tied in both the publication and MINI equity. The Playboy magazine unit was a 6-page “centerfold” of a MINI, complete with all the elements of the Playboy centerfold, including the fold-out photo, data sheet, and jokes page. The insert marks the first time a non-human was featured in a Playboy gatefold and speaks to giving the MINI human characteristics associated with automotive icons.

Finally, several magazines were included with an “event” idea tie-in. One example is the New Yorker/MINI Art Gallery Kick-off event, which took place at Boylan Studios in the Chelsea area of Manhattan on March 18. The event featured four young artists displaying their creative visions on a MINI roof.

We believe this campaign to be groundbreaking as traditional measures of effectiveness were ignored and the idea of distributing content in the most effective way possible was executed. Huge demand generated for the car as evidenced by the waiting lists at dealers throughout the U.S. ensures that demand will exceed supply for some time. And MINI is taking it’s first step to iconic status in the US. Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s unique approach makes it difficult to specify media’s contributions to this effort.Since our process begins with branding ideas, not media formats, our creative and media groups work closely to determine the best formats and distribution channels for those ideas. The result is the innovation needed to stand out in cluttered marketing environments.For our print plan, we were aware that our competition would greatly outspend us, and believed that any type of standard ad units would likely get lost in the maze of automotive advertisers. Hence, media’s recommendation was to abandon traditional ad units and create unique “content” pieces to distribute within the magazines.

Media invited a list of considered titles to a “magazine day” at the MINI offices in New Jersey. Publishers were confidentially introduced to the brand and encouraged to submit ideas that could tie-in their publication brand equity with that of MINI. We asked the question “how can you help us best distribute this content?” Ideas were in no way restricted to our inserts and could focus on a specific publication created unit and/or tie-ins with publication sponsored events. Among others, the Playboy “Centerfold” idea evolved from this meeting. We believe this is a great idea because it makes our print budget work harder by suprizing our target audience with truly innovative and pieces that we call portable interactive print. The campaign utilizes 6 different content pieces bound into magazines without any traditional pages of advertising, a concept that to our knowledge had never been executed. We even created new ROP units that had never before run in consumer magazines.Putting the idea in context, we faced the challenge of establishing an unknown brand against automotive manufacturers with budgets up to 50x greater than our 3.2MM. We had NO CHANCE to out-shout our competitors with these limited dollars. Hence, we had to make consumers stop and notice. Our MINI distribution pieces and unique content pieces serve as “currency” to be torn out of the magazines, talked about, and kept for future reference.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s unique approach makes it difficult to specify media’s contributions to this effort.Since our process begins with branding ideas, not media formats, our creative and media groups work closely to determine the best formats and distribution channels for those ideas. The result is the innovation needed to stand out in cluttered marketing environments.For our print plan, we were aware that our competition would greatly outspend us, and believed that any type of standard ad units would likely get lost in the maze of automotive advertisers. Hence, media’s recommendation was to abandon traditional ad units and create unique “content” pieces to distribute within the magazines.

Media invited a list of considered titles to a “magazine day” at the MINI offices in New Jersey. Publishers were confidentially introduced to the brand and encouraged to submit ideas that could tie-in their publication brand equity with that of MINI. We asked the question “how can you help us best distribute this content?” Ideas were in no way restricted to our inserts and could focus on a specific publication created unit and/or tie-ins with publication sponsored events. Among others, the Playboy “Centerfold” idea evolved from this meeting.

We believe this is a great idea because it makes our print budget work harder by suprizing our target audience with truly innovative and pieces that we call portable interactive print. The campaign utilizes 6 different content pieces bound into magazines without any traditional pages of advertising, a concept that to our knowledge had never been executed. We even created new ROP units that had never before run in consumer magazines.Putting the idea in context, we faced the challenge of establishing an unknown brand against automotive manufacturers with budgets up to 50x greater than our 3.2MM. We had NO CHANCE to out-shout our competitors with these limited dollars. Hence, we had to make consumers stop and notice. Our MINI distribution pieces and unique content pieces serve as “currency” to be torn out of the magazines, talked about, and kept for future reference.

The solution was to distribute our “content pieces” within the pages of titles with editorial consistent with the MINI mindset and to augment our advertising investment with free publicity and buzz generating approaches.

Given small budgets, we realized that a limited number of titles would be affordable. Therefore, the plan started with specific PRIZM analysis to cull down a list of potential titles. Within the general demographic targets of A18-49 (male skew) HHI 50M+, we used three specific PRIZM clusters as well as some subjective judgement to select initial magazine categories.

From the initial list, we gathered ideas for branding tie-ins as well as negotiated rates and logistics for the MINI content inserts. Each insert was evaluated separately, as well as unique ROP and branding tie-ins. The resulting plan reflected content distribution of some 26 million inserts in a total of 20 titles. Creatively, the pieces brand MINI in a different way. They speak to the attitudes of the MINI mindset and playfully mock the idea of “traditional” advertising. They vary from a “Book of Motoring”, which extols the virtues and attitudes of a MINI “motorer”, to an unscented air freshener to be placed in a car, to a “colorform” type detail sticker, which allows the reader to customize and re-customize his or her own MINI. As far as unique ROP units, “Cornering” features a MINI traveling on a 1” “road” on the top and right hand side of the magazine page with the headline “Nothing Corners Like a MINI”. The “Staples” slalom ad is a traditional center-spread unit executed non-traditionally. The staples in the center of the saddle stitched publications become part of the ad. The pubs agreed to use orange staples to represent slalom cones. Our MINI is shown speeding around them as though on a slalom course.

Several magazines created units that tied in both the publication and MINI equity. The Playboy magazine unit was a 6-page “centerfold” of a MINI, complete with all the elements of the Playboy centerfold, including the fold-out photo, data sheet, and jokes page. The insert marks the first time a non-human was featured in a Playboy gatefold and speaks to giving the MINI human characteristics associated with automotive icons.

Finally, several magazines were included with an “event” idea tie-in. One example is the New Yorker/MINI Art Gallery Kick-off event, which took place at Boylan Studios in the Chelsea area of Manhattan on March 18. The event featured four young artists displaying their creative visions on a MINI roof.

We believe this campaign to be groundbreaking as traditional measures of effectiveness were ignored and the idea of distributing content in the most effective way possible was executed. Huge demand generated for the car as evidenced by the waiting lists at dealers throughout the U.S. ensures that demand will exceed supply for some time. And MINI is taking it’s first step to iconic status in the US.

Jim Poh   Vice President/Director of Creative Cont. Distr.   CP+BJohn Herman   Associate Media Director   CP+B