We were visiting London last week when serendipity came along in the form of a lanky friendly young guy in Chuck Taylors asking us if we wanted a free lunch. It did sound rather odd and suspicious, but he was so cheery and clean cut that when he said something about car promotion we decided to investigate. When we spied the location up the block we knew what it was about right away from the Mini font on a window sign; it was early and they were still setting up so there was little to give it away, but we knew that typeface all too well

Exterior shot from later on


Well, it was like no marketing we have encountered here - nothing was promoted in the time we were there. Zero literature or anything pushing the Clubman (which is what I was told it was marketing for when I asked) beyond some Mini logos present on some signs and door people. Basically there was a large buffet of really nice catered food and these funny little workshops for "Things your parents should have taught you" - in this case it appeared to be how to play cards (not sure what game), how to carve a turkey, how to be stylish, dining etiquette, how to play guitar, the rules of football (soccer for us Yanks ), and some sort of power of persuasion instruction.

Part of the buffet which included everything from sushi to some sort of mystery hot stew of sorts


We were on a bit of a time line and didn't participate in the classes (I'm just too shy anyways) but it was cute to see people get into it along with all sorts of people they convinced to come in for lunch. We thought for sure that the car or something would appear in order to market it but as it turns out that was not the plan - it seems the event was really all about filming the activity and people having fun. I can't find the card now, but when I asked for something from an employee they gave me one listing all the similar events they were having around town for several weeks, all with different themes (here, I found a little blurb about it, http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-b...&d=254&h=0&f=0
) so if you are in London keep your eyes peeled if you'd like some funky lessons and a free bite to eat

The card instructor looked perfect for the part



It really was great to be an owner visiting Great Britain for the first time and fortuitously get caught up in a Mini promotion - we must have had the right aura or something They should should consider doing something similar here, I think plenty of people would appreciate the no pressure, no pushing the product down the throat approach in the US as well

More pics here: http://tinyurl.com/32ck39

 

PS: London is jam packed with more Minis then I ever imagined; I mean I figured they would be popular in their homeland but I never guessed how much! Definitely some real GB loyalty going on, there were also numerous Bentleys and Aston Martins all around, like they were cheap or something :P

The car of Paris was the Smart by far, fleets of them abounded and seemed quite robust zooming around and perfect for parking. Very very few SUVs and big non commercial trucks in either city , and lots of very adroit bus drivers that put ours to shame (seriously skilled whipping those big double deckers around in narrow spaces ).

 

Cool! Congrats on being at the right place at the right time!

 

Thanks - yeah it was the right time except for the exchange rate

 

Great Post!! Free food in London is a big deal! If you have never been there. here is an example. You enter a pub and look at the menu, the prices look right for here in the US just the instead of them being in dollars they are in pounds.

Beer 2.50 =$5.05

Hamburger 6.80 = $13.85

And forget about a tank of high test $95.00

 

Great write-up, eVal! What a hoot to get in on the fun!

 

Wowza - How cool for you!!!

Donna