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New Ad Campaign Heralds Arrival of 'The Other MINI'


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Butler Shine Stern & Partners crafts campaign for new MINI Clubman

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Feb. 20 -- MINI zigged when it launched the hardtop model in 2002 and zagged with the convertible in 2004. So what does MINI do when it's already zigged and zagged? Easy, MINI zugs with the arrival of the all-new 2008 MINI Clubman. That's the core concept behind the "ZIG, ZAG, ZUG" advertising launch campaign, developed by Sausalito, California-based advertising agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP), that ushers in the newest addition to the MINI model line.

With its hallmark design elements, and performance and handling attributes, the MINI Clubman is unmistakably a MINI. Yet its innovative five-door configuration and striking new proportions clearly distinguish it from other members of the MINI family, and make it unlike anything else on the road. The advertising creative from BSSP mirrors the MINI Clubman itself - enigmatic, unapologetic and unusual.

Teaser creative, featuring simply the words ZIG and ZAG appeared in transportation hubs and prominently placed wallscape ads in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles on February 1st. Coinciding with the MINI Clubman on-sale date of February 16th, the teaser ads were filled in with ZIG, ZAG and ZUG graphics, images of the MINI hardtop, MINI convertible, and the new MINI Clubman, and the tagline, MINI Clubman. The Other MINI. Aerial banners flew above the beaches in Miami and bus shelters, while lenticular imagery in Chicago and San Francisco simulates the boot of the car opening and closing as one walks past.

Consumers in these major markets had a chance to catch a glimpse of the new campaign in action when fleets of ZIG-, ZAG-, and ZUG-decaled MINIs, anchored by the MINI Clubman, took to the streets from February 16th through 20th in a guerrilla marketing initiative. The three-vehicle caravans looped high-traffic areas and landmarks in each city.

Unique ZIG, ZAG, ZUG print ad treatments are slated for March and April issues of media-partner publications. Two vertical, half-page ZIG and ZUG ads placed as bookends to editorial copy are followed up with a two-page ZUG spread featuring the MINI Clubman in both the March 6th issue of Rolling Stone and the April issue of Men's Journal. Evoking The New Yorker's classic cover art, the magazine's April 21st issue will feature two custom false covers and an actual cover with MINI ZIG and ZAG on facing pages, leading into a two- page MINI Clubman ZUG spread. Three-page front- and back-cover ZIG, ZAG, ZUG gatefolds will grace the March issue of XLR8R. In addition, custom editorial was fused with Clubman advertising into Intersection with its map creative and embedded into page design of SEED magazine.

The advertising launch campaign also is bolstered by national cable television spots.

In "Pinball," the MINI Clubman is positioned with its split-rear doors used as the "flippers" that prevent a pinball from going into the game's goal. The spot, which showcases one of the car's most unique features in an unexpected way, will run on networks such as the Discovery Channel, Comedy Central, ESPN and A&E between February 18th and March 2nd. Another spot, "Clubmanitis," which depicts a physician examining the inner ear of a young boy to find a MINI Clubman racing inside his patient's head, is scheduled for national cable television networks TLC, Speed Channel and Spike TV during the same time period.

The "Pinball" creative, highlighting the MINI Clubman's innovative split- rear doors as the focal point, has been adapted for innovative online gaming applications, as well. Members of the Nintendo Wii interactive community may download and play the multi-level MINI Clubmania pinball game, starring the MINI Clubman as goal tender, beginning this month. Also, interactive "Pinball" game banners will run on car enthusiast, design-oriented and social networking web sites through the end of May.

"The Book of ZUG" inserts will appear in March and April issues of leading magazines including, Anthem, Fader, Paper, Paste, Automobile, Esquire, European Car, Motor Trend, SPIN and WIRED. This MINI Clubman ad features a 24-page booklet introducing the Clubman and MINI family through pictures, philosophies and insights about the cars. The ad defines the word "ZUG" as an "adjective, verb or noun" meaning "to be unlike others, to do something different and a place in Switzerland."

Additionally, the MINI Clubman launch campaign will be supported by ads embedded in select video games, online banner and video ads on car enthusiast, design oriented and social networking web sites, and mobile telephone content. Dealer showroom point-of-sale materials will support MINI Clubman launch activities around the country.

Following the launch-phase advertising, from early-April to late-May, the MINI Clubman-focused Headline campaign will emerge. The campaign captures MINI's signature quirky style in headlines that highlight the MINI Clubman's distinguishing attributes: "Baby Got Back" and "Stop Staring at My Boot" reference the car's split-rear doors and versatile cargo space; while "Runs on Irregular" and "Learn to Drive Unstandard" point to its innovative five-door configuration and unconventional proportions; and "Brown Sheep" showcases an exclusive MINI Clubman exterior paint color - Hot Chocolate - for the eccentric new member of the MINI family.

The Clubman Headline campaign will appear in out-of-home advertisements in the major "buzz" markets of New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco and in print outlets, including Best Life, Sports Illustrated, Car and Driver, Road & Track, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN and others. Additionally, video banners ads on select web sites will feature the creative.

Prior to the launch phase of the campaign, leading-edge consumers discovered online viral videos with a handmade feel - "Etch-a-Sketch," "Pancake" and "Tape Deck" - on the companion web sites to trendsetting publications like, BPM, Juxtapoz, Metropop, Swindle and Vice. The videos, which ran from early-December to mid-February, supplemented "The Other Neidermeyer" print ads appearing in January and February issues of the same publications. "The Other Neidermeyer" features a series of traditional family portraits each with one family member that stands out as a bit odd or enigmatic in much the same way the MINI Clubman does among the members of the MINI clan.

Descriptions of national cable television spots "Pinball" and "Clubmanitis" follow:

Pinball

Men dressed in black push a giant pinball that travels round a massive pinball machine. Women inside the machine also push the pinball around and score. The women record their points by cranking number wheels. The pinball hits the split-rear doors of the Hot Chocolate MINI Cooper Clubman. Eventually, the pinball makes its way into the cargo area of the Hot Chocolate MINI and the doors close. The MINI then zooms into a black background with the tagline, MINI Clubman. The Other MINI.

Clubmanitis

The spot opens from the point of view of a doctor examining the inside of a patient's ear. A Lighting Blue MINI Cooper Clubman S laps a racetrack with a black circle framing it. Then a view of the examination room shows the doctor looking into a young boy's ear as his mother looks on. Inside the boy's

head is the MINI Cooper Clubman S on the track. The spot cuts to the blue MINI on a stage with the tagline, MINI Clubman. The Other MINI.

Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners

BSSP is a full-service marketing communications agency based in Sausalito, CA. The agency provides services in advertising, online marketing and web development, brand identity and design, and strategic brand consulting.

One of the largest independent agencies on the West Coast, BSSP is recognized for its ability to provide highly creative, fully accountable marketing solutions to a broad array of marketers including Priceline.com, MINI, Greyhound, LucasArts, Diageo Chateau & Estates, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Nike and Take Care Health Systems.

The agency was most recently recognized with two EFFIE awards for its work for MINI and Converse, as well as two Kelly Awards, including Grand Prize for its work with MINI.

MINI in the US

MINI is an independent brand of the BMW Group. In the United States, MINI USA operates as a business unit of BMW of North America, LLC which has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, an industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group's global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all Z4 models and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car centers, 335 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 142 BMW motorcycle retailers, 82 MINI passenger car dealers, and 30 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North, Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at:

  www.bmwgroupna.com

  www.bmwusa.com

  www.miniusa.com

  www.bmwmotorradusa.com

  www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com