Comments on: Mini Cooper Ad Fires On All Cylinders

By: Blog de Mhou » ¡Un mini por solo 99€!

Blog de Mhou » ¡Un mini por solo 99€! — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:12:34 +0000

[...] mpdailyfix Volver post anterior [...]

By: Made to Stick: Suprise! « Communication Rhodes

Made to Stick: Suprise! « Communication Rhodes — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:31:59 +0000

[...] for Christmas. While the ad was intended to advertise to a local audience, it eventually became a social media campaign overnight. Locals took pictures on their camera phones and tweeted the pictures all over the world, [...]

By: Paul (from Idea Sandbox)

Paul (from Idea Sandbox) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:34:14 +0000

Dan / Jesaka,
I thought about the boxes too from a “waste perspective.”
While I’m not a recycle expert… I think there were 12 executions… So 12 boxes. They boxes weren’t that thick… (i.e. not actually able to really contain anything).
Finally, they used brown paper cardboard – not chlorine bleached white paper. So that’s not as bad…
Speaking of white, bleached paper…
This seems less environmentally harmful than and a typical outdoor ad campaign which includes paper ads for buses, billboards, transit ads, etc. (and that is on bleached paper with colored inks).
Finally – even if the cardboard ended up NOT being recycled (which it all is in Amsterdam)… It would have been burned with the rest of our trash – and turned into steam powered electricity – which powers our tram system in Amsterdam.
(I wrote a piece on Daily Fix about the Amsterdam power plant- really cool).
As always – thank you for your comments… and for your detailed thinking!

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:25:20 +0000

Yes, the idea is creative, but it should have stopped right there.
This is totally irresponsible. Littering the streets is NOT good marketing, in my opinion.

By: Jesaka Long

Jesaka Long — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:01:52 +0000

Thanks so much for writing about this brilliant Mini Cooper campaign, Paul. Your discussion of what makes it great should be a must-read refresher for copywriters everywhere. We’ve got to deliver copy that’s just as pitch-perfect as these images. (And p.s. I do hope they recycle the boxes.)

By: Dan Soltzberg

Dan Soltzberg — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:47:13 +0000

My first reaction was “wow, I love this.” Then I thought about the resources to make and distribute these boxes – that they were basically produced to be “garbage,” and couldn’t help feeling a bit conflicted. It would be great to see some kind of further use for these boxes built into the plan…

By: Mark Mc

Mark Mc — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:26:17 +0000

Great post Paul! I agree that this is exceptional in the way that they combine the factors of attention seeking, the 99 euro/month message, in a way that really matches the audience for the brand without diluting any individual component. A great execution of a smart concept.

By: Celeste Nelson

Celeste Nelson — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:33:31 +0000

It really helps you illustrate how a great print campaign can do huge things for your internet presence. How much web exposure do you think Mini has gotten with this without having to write a single tweet, blog post, or metatag?

By: B.S.

B.S. — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:18:20 +0000

Paul,
Thanks for your reply.
As you guessed it, I just wanted to point the similarity between the two ads.
About the execution, I can’t say better than you: “Brilliantly right”.

By: Paul (from Idea Sandbox)

Paul (from Idea Sandbox) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:25:34 +0000

B.S. -
Very interesting. I had not seen that. Thank you for pointing it out.
There was some hubbub as there was a Heineken “big box in the trash” a week or two before the Mini version.
The Heineken looked like people had walk-in refrigerators delivered to their homes… similar to the kind featured in the recent commercial.
This link to the Creative Criminals site shows the execution:
http://creativecriminals.com/ambient/heineken-walk-in-fridge/
The folks who did the Mini project told me that they had no idea about Heineken and were waiting the 6-weeks for their boxes to be delivered when they saw the Heineken tactic.
The Mini execution was better and more relevant than Heineken.
Also, in looking at the TriBeCa’s execution of Mobizen, (which is a car share program)… The box represents the car that will soon be there for the public use. It looks like they also employed spokespeople to talk to those walking by about the program. (Maybe sign up?)
I think Mini did a better job in the execution of a ‘big empty box’ tactic. If it was a ’stolen’ idea – I think Mini took it to the next level.
I agree – VERY similar!
I’m hoping to meet with the folks who did the Mini project… I’ll find out if the Mobizen inspired them or if a coincidence.

By: B.S.

B.S. — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:38:02 +0000

Brillant but.. almost the same thing as the Tribeca one.
Shameless copycats (in this case I think Tribeca deserve a link in this post)or unfortunate coincidences?
Here is the link
http://www.marketing-alternatif.com/2008/12/02/mobizen-la-voiture-a-la-carte/
Nice weekend,

By: Paul (from Idea Sandbox)

Paul (from Idea Sandbox) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:17:45 +0000

Steve,
Thanks for commenting. Have a great weekend.

By: Steve Woodruff

Steve Woodruff — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:53:17 +0000

Absolutely, positively, brilliant! Totally unforgettable…