Mini USA is using advanced technology to communicate directly with consumers through a pilot pogramme launching in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami. Special billboards will send personalised messages to Mini drivers passing by.

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Imagine Mini owner Scott is driving down the highway. He’s checking out the billboards — phone companies (snore) … online casinos (no thanks) … “MOTOR LIKE YOU MEAN IT, SCOTT!” (Hold on! Say what?). Scott has just experienced personalised “talking” billboards — which will be the first to use advanced technology to communicate directly with its consumers with the introduction of ‘Mini Motorby’.


Commuters who are tired of seeing billboards with the same mind-numbing out-of-home copy will instead be greeted by Mini Motorboards. These boards feature a changing array of ‘unique, personal, playful and unexpected’ messages targeted to and triggered by Mini owners.


Messages will be spelled out in lights on billboards in locations in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami beginning late January 2007 and early February 2007.


To “deliver” their Motorby messages, Mini will utilise Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology — or, as Mini says it likes to call it, “Really Fun Interactive Devices.”

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Mini says that with this ‘groundbreaking’ new use of RFID, Mini will engage its community in a conversation in a fun, engaging, dynamic and personalised way.


The conversation between Motorboard and motorist begins online when Mini owners who want to be part of the programme answer questions about themselves and most importantly, how they feel about motoring and their Mini.


When owners visit the Mini Motorby website, they will be able to fill out a Motorby questionnaire. Some questions are as straightforward as a birth date while others are more detailed inquiries, including “What adjective best describes how you motor?” and “What is your Mini’s nickname?”


An electronic key fob — a small hardware device with built-in authentication mechanisms — will then be sent to the owner. The fob, which fits on a regular keychain, electronically communicates with the Mini Motorboard as the driver approaches and triggers a personalised message.


Mini says that drivers might be greeted with Motorboards that take a playful dig at their chosen profession. For example, a lawyer’s message might be, “Moving at the speed of justice!” Other drivers may receive a message that plays on what they perceive as the best feature of their Mini; owners who covet their car’s size can have a laugh at a billboard displaying, “ACTUALLY, SIZE DOES MATTER.”


“Motorby is all about creating unique Mini experiences and leveraging new technologies to engage owners and prospects,” said Kate Alini, Marketing Communications Manager of Mini USA.


“We are excited to be the first to use RFID technology to communicate directly with our owners in a customised and unexpected way. And, even though the messages are individually personalised, we still expect them to elicit more than a few smiles from all motorists who witness the Motorboards.”


“This is the ultimate one-to-one creative execution, and it’s perfectly aligned with everything we’re trying to do with Mini,” said John Butler, Executive Creative Director and Founding Partner at Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners, Mini USA’s ad agency.


Mini Motorby will launch on Monday, January 29, 2007 at four select locations across the USA. These locations are:
 



  • CHICAGO: I-294 (North Tri-State), .25 mile south of Wolf Road, south of Chicago O’Hare airport (faces southbound traffic).

  • MIAMI:  Palmetto Expressway, 25 feet north of NW 50th Street (faces northbound traffic).

  • NEW YORK: 10TH Avenue & 30TH Street, just before the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel (faces northbound traffic).

  • SAN FRANCISCO: 1-80 Skyway at 4th Street (faces eastbound traffic)

All locations can be found on the Mini website.