The Right Time to Upgrade
MINI drivers loved their MINI – they treated their car more like a pet, or even a partner. Convincing these drivers to trade in their beloved best friend was really hard. The problem was, the new MINI F56 may have looked like the old MINI, but it was more like a reinvention of the MINI from the ground up – featuring the most significant advances since the MINI was reborn in 2001.
If MINI drivers were ever going to replace their car, now was the time. But only if they realized how special the new model was. The task was to make sure MINI owners took notice, and simply sending a new car brochure wouldn’t do.
The Affair
The idea was to play off the intense and intimate relationship MINI owners often had with their cars. They gave them names, they treated them like family.
The insight was to ask, how would your current MINI feel if it found out you were considering driving a new one? And, more importantly, what would it do?
It would write a letter, obviously.
The Pay Off
After the brand’s mailing, the MINI website saw a 124% increase in site traffic for the period of activity. The average time users spent on the site increased by 389%. The dealer network reported an increase in interest in the new F56 MINI, with an increased number of phone requests for more information and test drives.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
The numbers vary, but it can cost 10 times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. So this mailing is all about loyalty to the brand.
Firstly, if a MINI owner is to become a MINI loyalist, the product has to deliver. The car has to be reliable, fun, all those things. But after that, it’s about maintaining a relationship. Keeping in touch. The brand reminding owners that it’s thinking about them with a whole programme of mailings, every one of which is a personal hello from MINI to make the owner feel special.
This is MINI being true to itself, quirky and playful, but also being pretty darned smart because it was almost certainly the spark that set off a trail of connections that led to dozens of car sales.