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Case Study: Helping MINI FASHION find their cultural bullseye

Last year, MINI created a number of films to promote the ‘MINI FASHION Field Notes Capsule Collection’, and we helped to supercharge their campaign.

This was a series of limited edition fashion items for the urban traveller that stemmed from a collaboration between MINI and The Woolmark Company. The line was designed together with four up-and-coming international designers. Check out the 30-second spot below.

Using our UnrulyEQ suite of emotional and cultural testing tools, we helped MINI to find and reach their ‘cultural bullseye’ within their urban traveller target. UnrulyEQ used biometric testing and facial coding to identify trends in emotional responses to the ad. We combined this emotional intelligence with ground-breaking research into consumer behaviour and culture from MediaCom and Hofstede Insights.

cultural bullseye

Based on testing two 30-second campaign creatives, we gained emotional data and combined it with cultural data from our exclusive access to Hofstede Insights with MediaCom. The resulting unique dataset was analyzed using machine learning and this enabled us to explain and predict emotional reactions to the ads by linking them back to specific cultural segments. The analysis provided deep insight into which cultural audience segments MINI FASHION should target during the campaign and which segments they should avoid.

UnrulyEQ testing found clear indications of the existence of two very distinct sub-groups of MINI’s target audience. One of the groups resonated well with the content, and the other group experienced high levels of confusion. Being able to shed light on such nuances is key for international campaigns and could only be achieved by adding this extra layer of cultural analysis.

As a result of the cultural testing, we created an audience cluster, MINI’s cultural key audience. The characteristics of the cultural audience were that they were highly fashionable, curious, ambitious, and collective. These insights allowed us to deliver an impactful distribution via UnrulyX in Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the US and UK. The campaign delivered over 1 million completed views with a VTR of 65.53% and saw CTR uplifts of up to +28% against the global norms.

CTR uplift

Commenting on the role of combining emotional and cultural data in the success of the campaign, Dr. Michael Fretschner, Unruly’s VP of Insight & Solution Northern Europe, commented: “The MINI FASHION Field Notes campaign is a fantastic example of how emotional and cultural insights can help to successfully introduce new products on an international scale while targeting the relevant target audience. The campaign moves consumers by combining creative and appealing content with relevant background information in great emotional storytelling. Thanks to our unique testing and targeting capabilities, we could help MINI achieve success in diverse markets as USA, Japan, or Germany, using the same original creative.”

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