Mini Countryman – What’s Stopping You?

We received some Direct Mail for the Mini Countryman today. It included a free draw card that was also available online at mini.co.uk/whatsstoppingyou/. Immediate kudos to the agency for not feeling like they have to add ‘www’ to the front of the URL, and also for hosting the promotion on the brand website. These are little things, but they mean a lot. The website itself is Flash-based, as you’d expect, but makes no provision whatsoever for iPhones or other non-Flash-enabled browsers: the page is just blank. Quite surprising when you consider the iPhone is even mentioned within the brochure.

To enter the promotion you have to order a brochure or a test drive. I selected the brochure, and this took me to a new website www.minicherished.co.uk. Strangely, the phone field was mandatory online, but not on the offline card. Luckily, there was a phone opt-out checkbox. Opt-outs aren’t a great idea by the way, as they just confuse people. Much better to let customers opt-in to receive information. I submitted the form, and it just said that my local dealer would be in touch. Nothing more at all about the prize draw. Quite a flat end to the journey. I did receive an email telling me that a brochure was on its way to me, but that was it.
3 Sept 2010 update: even after de-selecting the phone opt-in, I still received a sales call from my local Mini dealership!