Note: Just updated this article with english posting (it was translated before..) 12-6-07
The ‘Messeturm’ and MINI Clubman – giant projections over Frankfurt. This unique project is part of the innovative launch campaign for the IAA.
09/11/2007
Frankfurt. The metropolis of Frankfurt by night – pulsating, vibrant, unique – and high above the roofs, the new MINI Clubman on the Frankfurt Messeturm. The 100 metre high projection covers ten storeys of the giant tower, with a height of 40 meters and giving the exhibition city a new, unmistakeable face for the IAA motor show. The project is part of the campaign entitled “Otherness – The other Frankfurt” for the launch of the new “MINI Clubman. The other MINI.” It also includes unconventional activities outside the exhibition site in the city centre of Frankfurt.
MINI pioneers projection on the Messeturm in Frankfurt
“Projecting images onto the Messeturm in Frankfurt for marketing purposes is unique. However, for us, it’s the artistic aspect, rather than the advertising, that took priority”, says Amiel Pretsch from the agency Future Headz. The film pro-jections are characterised by an unconventional imagery, combining, for exam-ple, animations, collages and graffiti. MINI is picking up the retro look of the launch campaign and setting the new MINI Clubman in urban surroundings in a way that is guaranteed to attract attention.
The project required a massive technical input. Four high-powered projectors, each producing 20,000 ANSI lumen, illuminate the Messeturm each night after dusk. The projectors were lifted by crane onto the roof of a tower block diago-nally opposite and shine onto the tower from a projection distance of 280 me-tres. With a total area of 920 square metres, the project can be seen clearly in the West End of Frankfurt and through to the University. There is a particularly good view of it from the square in front of the motor show, the west side of Hamburger Allee and the western part of Theodor-Heuss-Allee.
For MINI, unconventional campaigns are a crucial element in marketing
But MINI is planning all sorts of campaigns and events not only above but also in the city as part of the concept of “Otherness” – “The other Frankfurt”. At Frank-furt Airport, the MINI Clubman will be presenting its unusual rear view to passen-gers from 8 September 2007. The motif, in the form of a plastic film, will be fixed temporarily to all the exit doors on the arrival levels in Terminals 1 and 2. The passengers passing through the sliding doors will literally disappear into the MINI Clubman. MINI is also pursuing the same concept in the city centre of Frankfurt. Selected partners, such as the Diesel Store and many bars, have had the same stickers affixed to their entrance doors.
“For MINI, unconventional marketing is particularly significant within all its com-munication activities. This is why we have gone for innovative and surprising campaigns for the launch of the new MINI Clubman, in order to reach our target groups”, explains the head of MINI Brand Communication, Andreas- Christoph Hofmann. The activities planned for the IAA will attract attention and have a broadly based effect. In addition to the core target group of post-modern trend-setters, it also aims to make contact in an unusual way with international motor show visitors, Frankfurt-based opinion leaders and people in Frankfurt city centre who are not visiting the motor show.
“The other Frankfurt” – a new experience of Frankfurt with MINI
“The other disco”, a MINI Clubman with sound system, turntables and a DJ, is inviting people to a spontaneous party event in Frankfurt. “The other garage” will bring drivers of other brands close to the MINI feeling. Visitors can be live on stage, watching how a vehicle of another brand will be transformed into a MINI Clubman. The highlight will be of course the build-in of the new MINI Clubman rear door, with professional support. “The other ranch” is an interpretation of the 1970s art project “The Ant Farm” to suit the new MINI Clubman directly on the fairground: Europa Allee – Corner Den Haager Street.
In addition, MINI has taken pioneering steps in the metro and suburban railway areas of this great city on the Main.
For the IAA, it’s a question of keeping your eyes open and re-discovering Frankfurt with MINI -with the motto “The other Frankfurt”.
But MINI is appearing in Munich and Berlin as well as in Frankfurt. In Berlin too, the MINI clubman is scaling new heights: from 10 September to 8 October 2007, it can be seen on the LED display of the Axel Springer tower. In Septem-ber, the MINI Clubman rear view sticker can be found in MINI outlets in Frankfurt and Berlin and on the doors of MINI cooperation partner Onitsuka Tiger Store in Berlin. The MINI partners in Munich are Wittgenstein and Diesel Store.
Within this wide-ranging campaign, MINI has worked with two creative partners. Munich-based agency future:headz was responsible for the Messeturm projection and the rear view concept, amongst other things. The agency Interone Worldwide München provided the ideas for “The other Frankfurt”.
