The New York Times has a great piece in today’s edition on the MINI USA’s Motorby program we covered a few weeks ago. Here’s an excerpt:
>The boards, which usually carry typical advertising, are programmed to identify approaching Mini drivers through a coded signal from a radio chip embedded in their key fob. The messages are personal, based on questionnaires that owners filled out: “Mary, moving at the speed of justice,†if Mary is a lawyer, or “Mike, the special of the day is speed,†if Mike is a chef.
>The experiment adds a new wrinkle to the wrangling among marketers and safety experts over whether drivers might be dangerously distracted by messages flashed on the growing number of digital billboards around the nation. Some communities have forced billboard owners to modify or turn off such signs, and the federal government has said it will soon publish a review of the research on the subject.
>The enthusiastic guinea pigs for the Mini experiment will be more than a thousand Mini owners in New York, Miami, Chicago and San Francisco who have signed up for what the company calls “an ever-changing array of unique, personal, playful and unexpected messages.â€ÂÂ
And if anybody’s wondering what Mr. Feder is referring to when he mentions “blogs”, he’s indeed talking our very own MotoringFile. Mr. Feder interviewed me last week to get some background information on the story and how MINI owners have responded. He also combed the comment section of our Motorby story posted a few weeks back and found all your comments to be interesting and quite helpful for the piece.
You can read the entire article here:
[ Billboards That Know You by Name ] New York Times
There was a short spot about it on Channel 2 news in Chicago this morning.
They showed stock footage of liquor billboards (and no MINIs) during the clip.
So, has anyone gotten their keyfob yet? I responded to the survey the day the inital email arrived and keep waiting but it hasn’t arrived….
Steve
The article says, “more than a third of Mini owners have named their cars”. I think it might have been true when the MINI was new and unique (and dealers and MINI encouraged buyers to assign a name). I just can’t imagine it is anywhere near that number now.
Both the Motorby campaign and the secret Black Box campaign will generate a lot of interest in the advertising and media circles for being new and innovative ideas, and probably result in some advertising industry awards. I’m still not so sure though about real world marketing effectiveness.
Crispin, Porter + Bogusky must be kicking their own asses by letting go of the MINI account. For what I have read in industry related journals, it appears to be that VW may show the door to CP+B come summer time. CP+B doesn’t seem to be in a good standing following the departure of Kerri Martin from VW. Kerri Martin lured away CP+B from MINI as the apparent “savior” to VW. Obviously that didn’t work as planned.
Well, I just hope that MINI USA is still reviewing these sites becasue I want my fob and active billboard here in CT.
But I see that if we are to organize a run past a billboard we will have to allow at least 10 seconds between cars. Unfortunately it won’t look like much of a parade when spaced out that far.
Well I’ll tell you a vast majority of my customers name their cars after delivery. It’s fun and really fits the excitement that these cars evoke. This will really add to that excitement!
1/3rd seems High.
No name for my car.
Gabe, What was the name of your car again??
Did anyone recieve their fob yet?
Might have to organize a run with the NYC contingent when a few of us have them … in the dead of night that is 🙂
>Gabe, What was the name of your car again??
Never had one never will. I simply can’t name an object like a car 🙂
I think the concept is very innovative and communicates on many levels both to the targeted MINI driver and the general audience in a provocative and compelling manner. The “weinnies” who always seem to have safeguarding “our” safety interests in mind should wear blinkers to avoid unecessary distraction and quit meddling in our affairs. Lighten-up you officious bloakes! … and give the rest of us some space to enjoy thia MINIscule pleasure.
<blockquote>Gabe, What was the name of your car again??
Never had one never will. I simply can’t name an object like a car :)</blockquote>
Now come on Gabe, I distinctly recall in a podcast once that you named it something like “My black MINI Cooper S” or “My Car”
Right?