The flash-based site we all know and love MINIUSA.com, is currently being featured on Macromedia.com for a case study. Here’s an excerpt:

The Challenge:

MINI USA faced a three-fold challenge. They needed to create a new automotive segment (MINI is the smallest car on the American road), launch a new brand, and introduce two models simultaneously. The considerations were: how to leverage the rich heritage of MINI; how to express the BMW Group’s state-of-the art engineering; how to differentiate MINI’s motoring fun and exhilaration; and how to promote the brand’s unique selling proposition of customization and personalization.

The Solution:

Partnering with BEAM Interactive and using Macromedia Flash, MINI USA brought the brand to life online. They created a highly interactive internet application that resonates with the self-expressive nature of MINI prospects. The site provides a seamless user experience with the dealer network and dealer sites, providing a sustainable stream of highly qualified leads, while at the same time remaining consistent with other off-line branding efforts.

The heart of the site is the configurator, which allows people to customize their own personal MINI through a simple, non-linear, five-step process that includes the ability to add after-market accessories such as custom graphics and wheels. The navigation assures that absolutely everything is viewable on one page at all times. Users can see the exact car that they are customizing and can better understand the price implications of their configuration choices at each step of the process. Its rules-based architecture assures that the users can actually purchase the vehicle that they configured, taking into consideration more than a million design possibilities. MINI easily maintains the rules, as vehicle specifications change from year to year. When users have finished configuring a car, they can then name it, save it, calculate payments for it, and send their configuration to a MINI dealer where it can be purchased. They can also download and print a fully customized, color brochure of their own creation.

You can read more at the follwing link:

[ Macromedia Case Study: MINIUSA ]

Hats off to all those at Beam Interactive and the flash designers and developers (and creative director!) who have made MINIUSA possible. It’s only through a ton of great work by these folks that we get to play with what wheels we like best on our $38,000 dream MINI Cooper JCW S 🙂

[ MINIUSA ]