MINI USA Asks: ‘What’s Your Carfun Footprint?’

   New Marketing Approach Highlights MINI's Fun-to-Drive, Fuel-Efficient

      Premium Small Cars and Challenges Consumers to Do More with Less



    WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Aug. 7 /EMWNews/ -- "What's Your Carfun

Footprint?" A new marketing campaign from MINI USA and its agency Butler

Shine Stern & Partners (BSSP) poses this very question and highlights that

driver's don't have to sacrifice fun for fuel efficiency. MINI USA defines

Carfun Footprint as: "A measurement of how much fun your car is versus how

much impact it has on the environment."



    Spreading MINI's philosophy of maximizing fun while minimizing impact,

the new campaign underscores these principles inherent to its brand and

products from the beginning. The Classic Mini, born out of the post-World

War II oil crisis that sent fuel prices soaring in the late-1950s, struck

the perfect balance between fuel efficiency, functionality and fun -- an

approach that's just as relevant now as it was then.



    "For nearly 50 years, MINI owners have enjoyed cars that are at once

fuel-efficient -- up to 37 mpg -- and fun-to-drive. In the face of today's

escalating gasoline costs more people than ever are expressing renewed

interest in the original premium small car," said Jim McDowell, Vice

President, MINI USA. "What they'll find through the new campaign is that

the third-party data validates their choice -- MINI cars outrank all other

makes and models by the Carfun Footprint measure."



    The centerpiece of the campaign is an interactive online application,

the Carfun Footprint Calculator, now launched at

http://www.carfunfootprint.com in early August, which will enable consumers

to input their vehicle makes and models to determine their scores and see

how their vehicles stack up against nearly 200 other models.



    Animation, narration and a good dose of MINI-brand humor bring the

Carfun Footprint Calculator to life -- engaging the consumers, inviting

them to be part of a relevant conversation, and empowering them with the

information they need to minimize their environmental impact -- no matter

what vehicle they drive.



    Carfun Footprint = 50% Fun + 50% Green



    The Carfun Footprint score is derived from a sophisticated formula

incorporating third-party data from Strategic Vision Inc.'s New Vehicle

Experience Study(TM) (NVES), a syndicated study allowing new vehicle owners

to rate their experiences; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green

Vehicle Guide, which provides environmental scores and standardized test

data for cars and trucks related to emission levels and fuel economy; and

AutoData Corporation's vehicle curb weight data is tapped to estimate

manufacturing impacts.



    Once the Carfun Footprint score has been calculated, consumers may

select more options:



    -- Improve -- recommends the optimal strategy for making significant

strides, driving a 37-mpg MINI Cooper, and provides a link to

http://www.MINIUSA.COM for more information about the cars in MINI's line-up;



    -- Green Motoring Tips -- allows consumers to enter their e-mail

addresses to subscribe to universal tips for lowering environmental impact

regardless of vehicle make or model;



    -- Share -- lets consumers pass the calculator on to friends via e-mail

or through popular social networking web sites; and



    -- MINIMALISM -- directs consumers to http://www.MINIUSA.COM/MINIMALISM.



    MINIMALISM is MINI's global philosophy of "doing more with less." It

encompasses equipping MINI cars with innovative engine technologies and

other improvements that significantly reduce fuel consumption without

compromising fun and designing and engineering for optimum recyclability.



    The Carfun Footprint conversation begins with a print ad which

describes the Carfun Footprint philosophy and sets the tone for the

campaign. The copy opens with "It's Time to Drive Like There is a

Tomorrow," goes on to offer a vision for maximizing driving fun while

minimizing impact, and closes with "It's time to think about our Carfun

Footprint." The ad is slated to appear in August and September issues of

select auto enthusiast and lifestyle publications, such as: Automobile,

Best Life, Car & Driver, ESPN, GOOD, Men's Fitness, Men's Journal, The New

Yorker, Outside and SPIN.



    In a unique collaboration with The New York Times and GOOD magazine,

MINI USA will sponsor a special issue of GOOD to be inserted within a

Sunday Edition of The New York Times this fall. This smaller version of

GOOD, whose editorial mission is to promote those people, places and things

that make a positive difference in the world, will offer a mix of past

features along with original content, and will be distributed to more than

600,000 subscribers and newsstand purchasers in five major markets -- New

York City, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.



    Also in August and September, out-of-home marquee billboards and

wallscapes will appear in MINI's five buzz markets to spread the word about

http://www.CarfunFootprint.com, carrying the headlines "Drive Like There is a

Tomorrow" and "More Turn. Less Burn."



    The campaign's Launch print ads that will follow in September, October

and November issues of auto enthusiast and lifestyle magazines,

specifically ask "What's Your Carfun Footprint?" The creative copy goes on

to explain the philosophy, introduce the methodology and point consumers to

CarfunFootprint.com, where they will find the interactive Carfun Footprint

Calculator and can determine their scores. These ads will run in Blender,

European Car, Fast Company, Men's Health, Motor Trend, National Geographic

Adventurer, The New Yorker, Ode, Plenty, Road & Track, Rolling Stone and

SPIN.



    Headline print ads bearing the headlines "Good. Clean. Fun." "Drive

Like There is a Tomorrow." and "More Turn. Less Burn." will run in October

and November issues of AutoWeek, Best Life, Blender, GOOD, Grassroots

Motorsports and Paste. Special Headline ad treatments are scheduled for two

media partner publications. Two vertical, half-page ads -- one reading

"More Turn." and the other, "Less Burn." -- will be placed as bookends to

editorial copy in the October issue of Men's Journal and the September 18th

issue of Rolling Stone.



    For more information, visit: http://www.CarfunFootprint.com or http://www.MINIUSA.COM



    Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners



    BSSP is a full-service marketing communications agency based in

Sausalito, CA. The agency provides services in advertising, online

marketing and web development, brand identity and design, and strategic

brand consulting. One of the largest independent agencies on the West

Coast, BSSP is recognized for its ability to provide highly creative, fully

accountable marketing solutions to a broad array of marketers including

MINI, Priceline.com, Greyhound, LucasArts, Diageo Chateau & Estates, The

Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Nike and Take Care Health Systems. The

agency was most recently recognized with two EFFIE awards for its work for

MINI and Converse, as well as two Kelly Awards, including Grand Prize for

its work with MINI.



    MINI in the US



    MINI is an independent brand of the BMW Group. In the United States,

MINI USA operates as a business unit of BMW of North America, LLC which has

been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA,

LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States

has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations

for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand,

and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, an industrial

design firm in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and

various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC

in South Carolina is part of BMW Group's global manufacturing network and

is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all Z4 models, X5 Sports Activity

Vehicles and X6 Sport Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is

represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car centers,

335 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 142 BMW motorcycle retailers, 82

MINI passenger car dealers, and 30 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US)

Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North, Central and

South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.








    Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the

Internet at:



     http://www.bmwgroupna.com

     http://www.bmwusa.com

     http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com

     http://www.miniusa.com

     http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com