MINI USA – MINI Vs Porsche Challenge

The Brief
We set out to reinvigorate our thinking about what it means for MINI to be a challenger and how to get people to pay attention to the brand in new ways. We wanted to explore MINI’s underdog spirit and its underlying optimism, as well as its ability to be exhilarating. We challenged our creative team to show the exhilaration of MINI that only comes from driving it or seeing it in action and feeling it with the senses, combined with the bold, feisty swagger that only MINI can deliver. Thus, the idea of challenging Porsche to a race was born.

MINI took out a full-page color ad in the New York Times in the form of an open letter to Porsche. The next day, we released a viral video from the president of MINI USA, addressing the president of Porsche. When Porsche declined, we quickly released another video. We started a petition on Facebook spurring fans to show their support for the race. We taunted Porsche with aerial banners flying over their corporate headquarters and we created MINI vs. Porsche collectible sets and sent them to the press. After two weeks of intense conversation, it was time for race day.

The head of MINI USA publicly challenges the head of Porsche to a race, pitting the MINI Cooper S against the legendary Porsche 911 Carrera S on a track in Atlanta on June 21st, right down the road from Porsche’s corporate headquarters. 
The gauntlet has been thrown down. Will Porsche accept?

MINI is not ready to give up on the MINI vs. Porsche race. They’ve upped the ante and re-challenged Porsche in this new video from MINI USA president Jim McDowell. After watching this hilarious new video there’s no way that Porsche can say no.

The Reaction

The Official Response from Porsche USA

The Race

Interview with Cory Friedman, Porsche driver of the MINI vs Porsche race.
Clic here for a spoof of Rocky IV, with Mini cast as Rocky and Porsche in the role of Ivan Drago.

The MINI vs. Porsche challenge was the ultimate expression of feistiness and that unique combination of cheeky exhilaration that only MINI could do. It was all about the banter. It was never mean-spirited. We never took ourselves too seriously. Porsche was the perfect brand to take on, because it represented a pre-recession view of wealth and accomplishment in America.
The results.
MINI earned over 3.3 million top-tier press impressions from print, TV and online coverage of the event. Over 300,000 people watched the various MINI vs. Porsche videos. On the day of the NY Times print ad, online posts instantly increased tenfold. This level of buzz was maintained at five to ten times normal levels throughout the campaign. MINI’s Facebook page views, which usually hover around 1,000 per day, spiked to 82,000 on the day of the race. In total, the MINI vs. Porsche Facebook tab generated 430,000 views, 15,000 petition signatures and almost 8,000 new fans.

Interview with President of MINI, Jim McDowell.

Advertising Agency: Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners
Creative Director: Lyle Yetman, Steve Mapp
Art Director: Alex Rice
Copywriter: Aimee Lehto
Year: 2011

---