As a few of your have undoutedly noticed, MINI has quetly started a new compaign to promote good works and good news called Mini Motoring Hearts. Here’s more from this week’s Automotive News:

>”Mini Motoring Hearts” is the theme of a new marketing plan that encourages owners to choose from among 37,000 nonprofit organizations that need volunteers. It is the first element of a program that promotes giving back to communities, says Trudy Hardy, marketing manager for Mini USA.

>Mini also will share 80 outdoor billboards around the country and some print ads with nonprofit groups. It has joined with several major media groups to promote what it calls “Good News Reports,” says Hardy, 36, who has been with Mini since one year before its U.S. launch in 2002. Hardy was promoted to head the marketing department last May.

>Mini’s marketing has always been humorous and off-beat. The newest program is far from conventional.

>”Customization is one of our strongest brand tenets,” Hardy says. “In all our marketing efforts, we are trying to allow them (owners) to customize their experiences with Mini.”

You can read the entire article below:

[ Mini advertising promotes good works, good news ] Autonews