More buzz for Mini coming up, with an exclusive ‘owner-only’ campaign and a “we’re in, you’re out” oriented communication. It could work, if the benefits of being ‘in’ are larger than ownership of the car. Interesting to see where this will be going. I’m not really convinced that it’s going to be enough to communicate a secret message to the owners. It has to be exciting enough for the owners, so that they will be encouraged and (in one way or the other) rewarded for spreading the buzz of this exclusivity, and it has to be a message that’s strong enough for not-owners to be convinced to join the ownership group.
From BusinessWeek:
The strategy is to get owners buzzing about the brand while piquing the curiosity of potential buyers. “It’s a covert and an overt campaign almost simultaneously,” says John Butler, a creative director at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, Mini’s new ad agency. “If you get the kit, you’re rewarded. If not, you get the gist that owning a Mini is like being in a club.”
From MediaBuyerPlanner:
Over the next few weeks, Mini Cooper will be launching a new ad campaign targeted at the 150,000 people across the U.S. who already own the car.
The ad campaign will run in magazines such as The New Yorker and Maxim, and will only be available for current owners to read. The ads will be encrypted. Mini owners are being sent a book stocked with special glasses, a decoder and a “magic window decryptor,” Business Week reports. Owners will use the decoder tools to find Web addresses in the ads that point them towards free prizes or invitations to events.
Thanks for this interesting pointer, Chris!
Rob Fields
July 28, 2006 at 4:26 pm
I applaud this effort. Whether or not is generates buzz is, in some ways, incidental. More important, is that Mini is now thinking “How can I treat my best customers”—my loyals—“better than those who are not customers?” Hopefully, Mini gets the fact that it’s all about the experience: I get a better Mini experience because I’m an owner. That translates to such things as better auto service, less of a wait at the dealership and, in this case, owner-specific communications. In a completely different industry, Harrah’s is masterful at this, and via their loyalty card program they leverage user data for high levels of communication and experience customization.
» Update On The Mini Case - Coolz0r - Marketing Thoughts
August 3, 2006 at 7:47 pm
[...] A few days ago I wrote about a special ad campaign aimed for MINI-owners across the US. 150,000 drivers were to be contacted for a new campaign that will run in magazines such as The New Yorker and Maxim. The ads would be encrypted, so that only MINI-owners would be able to understand the message. [...]