The MINI target group is "media savvy" and uses many, and very different, channels of information and entertainment in their daily lives. The group also shows a great affinity to the latest trends in technology, fashion, communication, etc. This means that we constantly have to find new and surprising ways of addressing them. We managed to meet these self-defined standards with the guerrilla campaign described here, conducted at unexpected places in several Swiss cities.

A MINI still has the public image of being a small car. MINI wanted to correct this misconception with the help of a guerrilla campaign that focused playfully on exactly that key asset of a MINI – its size.

The campaign was quite extensively talked about and put a smile on the face of many a passer-by. Thus, MINI managed to further position itself as a “cult” brand with a very positive personality.

Those passers-by who stood directly in front of this very life-like MINI duplicate got the impression that a host of people were getting in and out of that presumably so small car. This eye catcher with trompe-l’oeil effect was an effective way of getting people’s attention. In addition, the typical MINI humor of this tongue-in cheek approach confirmed MINI’s status as a “cult” brand.

The goal of the campaign was to make the target audience realize that a MINI offers much more space than is commonly assumed. To “prove” this, we used the size of a MINI car in a witty and slightly exaggerated way: at several locations in a number of Swiss cities we installed life-size front views of a MINI car, complete with an open driver’s door. The locations chosen were entrances and exits of underpasses and escalators (leading, for example, to train stations) in areas frequented by many passers-by.