July 30, 2003

Mini Canada receives award for innovative advertising

Whitby, Ontario - Mini Canada, a division of BMW Group Canada, has been named "Top Automotive Client" in Strategy magazine's Top Clients Report 2003. The honour, bestowed annually in five categories by the editorial staff at Strategy, was awarded to Mini Canada for the company's innovative approach to producing a distinctive brand campaign.

"The Strategy editorial team's top five picks of the year present five marketers who produced the most memorable, exciting and effective work in their respective categories...unanimously, we chose Mini Cooper as the car with the most personality on the road. Two years in and their strategy is still refreshingly cool," states the editorial of the July 28, 2003 issue of the magazine.

The Mini was launched in Canada in March, 2002. Through an Internet promotion entitled "Get In Line on Line", over 40% of the initial Canadian allocation of the vehicles was presold before the official release date. Mini's unconventional marketing campaign persisted as life-size Minis appeared on billboards in downtown Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Minis were also caged on the streets of major Canadian cities with warnings to pedestrians "Not to tease, feed or annoy the Mini", and the smallest car on Canadian roads took on the Canadian winter in the Mini Winter Driving Challenge.

"Mini's character demanded an edgy, integrative brand campaign for the Canadian market," explains Rob Van Shaik, National Manager, Mini for BMW Group Canada. "The feedback we've received from our customers, the media, and now this award, indicates that this approach has been a tremendous success." In Canada, Mini's advertising Agency of Record is Toronto based Taxi Advertising, while strategic media buys are coordinated through Gaggi Media.

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