MINI USA Working to Create a New Brand Awareness
Automotive News caught up with Head of MINI USA David Duncan to chat about all things MINI USA. Top of David’s list was fine-tuning MINI USA’s marketing message with these three goals:
1. Increasing brand awareness through TV advertising, as in Mini’s Super Bowl ad this year.
2. Emphasizing that the brand stands for more than just one vehicle. “For so long, people were just saying, “Oh, it’s the Mini Cooper. I know what that car is,'” Duncan told Automotive News. “We really are more than that one car. We have a two-door. We have a four-door. We have a larger four-door. We have an all-wheel-drive model.”
3. Pushing the message that Mini is premium. Duncan wants to show the evolution from “where we were when we only had small cars to where we now have compact cars and a more premium feel.”
If you’ve a reader of MF and a MINI owner these points might not seem new. But to the larger public often MINI is still a small car and maybe worse, just a small car. With the expanding and improved line-up, MINI USA’s task is to let the public know about nature of the product and all that it offers. Of course the trick is doing that while not losing sight of the core brand message of precise handling, efficient use of space and great design.
The perfect product to launch this new offensive is the F54 Clubman and the forthcoming F60 Countryman (which wasn’t mentioned). On the record David Duncan said dealers are excited to have the larger Clubman on the showroom floor.
“We see that as a fast-growing segment, so having an entry in there gives us that opportunity,” he said. “And then when you look at the car itself, it’s got a premium-ness about it that really takes us to the next level and allows us to compete against brands that we weren’t typically competing against.”
This all leads to our question to the MF readers. What can MINI do to get more people interested in the brand? And does having a larger owner group with more varied interested or connections to the car dilute the brand for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
<p>My local dealer reports that there are an increasing number of cars visible up and down the local auto row that are looking a lot like MINI’s brand appearance in colors and livery. They expect to be redoing their facility appearance toward a more distinctive presentation as part of an effort by MINI to defend their historically unique offerings. The movement to base the larger new offerings on BMW’s X1 platform has increased interior volume at the expense of a very ‘hippy’ (not attractive) shape (in the Clubman). The new engines, while zippy, are dealing with significant increase in vehicle weight (e.g., the Countryman hybrid concept), moving away from the quick, maneuverable historical behavior. BMW/MINI are very good at what they do, but the enthusiasts may be left behind in this movement toward mainstream…</p>
<p>Exactly. If you have try to remind people how hip and cool you are maybe you’re not (any more).</p>
<p>Invite the public to ‘come in and take a MINI out for a drive.’ A fun drive. Not a ‘test drive.’ Regardless of whether they’re in the market for a car.</p>
<p>It was such a fun drive in a 2006 Cooper S that got me hooked ten years ago. I haven’t wanted to drive anything else since that day, and am now driving my fourth new MINI.</p>
<p>If fun drives don’t stir up some sales, then MINI has messed-up the magic.</p>
<p>I think this new push in a different direction is sad. If you have to be what you are not to receive acceptance, you have existential problems. A new spin for acceptance on who you are is what MINI should be doing. What we had was special. A Mini wave, a unique auto club, minimalism, go-cart handling, unlimited customization and a whole philosophy which is all getting push aside in order to boost sales.</p>
<p>Higher Performance & Lower Pricetag ??</p>