Congrats to BMW and the MINI design, engineering and marketing teams. The MINI is a ludicrous success and has one of the best brand cultures around. People rave about them, customize them, buy branded clothing and meet up for rallies around the nation.
Now that that’s out of the way… what the hell were you thinking coming out with the Clubman?! Don’t get me wrong– I get what you’re trying to do here. You did some research and looked at the market. People loved the MINI but it just wasn’t practical for the family man/woman. Where were they supposed to put the kids and the dog and the coolers and the beach chairs and all those other things breeders accumulate? Simple problem, simple response: build a bigger MINI and market it with the catchy slogan “All business in the front, party in the back.” I’m sure it’ll be a winner, and do at least as well as the mullet. But let’s look at wisdom of a classic MINI ad, “bigger isn’t always better.”
Thinking outside the Clubman box for a moment. You have a brand that runs on irreverence, spunk, small, humor, attitude, wit, performance and cute. You’ve invested most of your communication dollars in telling everyone that small still matters, demonizing the waste of America and its size complex. You’ve built your entire brand on small… and now you want to extend it to not-so-small, almost-small, probably-ugly? Oh, and there’s that other little thing that also happens to be small… you own BMW motorcycles!!!
Am I really suggesting MINI Scooters…you bet your logo I am.
MINI Scooters. “MINI, now MINIer.”
thedistillery 