MINI Maps
- Brand
- MINI
- Year
- 2011
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Automotive
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Social
- Agency
- DDB Paris
- With
- UNIT9
Objective
MINI wanted its own home inside Facebook where the brand could hold people's attention through play instead of a banner — enough time behind the wheel for a visitor to warm to a specific MINI model and start seeing themselves as an owner. The campaign was also built to feel local rather than global, turning the same worldwide map data into a race through each player's own street or neighborhood.
Solution
Inside the Facebook app, players look down on a real Google Maps view of anywhere in the world and drop checkpoints — around their block, past the office, through a dream city — to build a race track out of actual streets. They then pick a MINI from a lineup of nine models (more unlock as they play), choose a paint color, set the lap length and time of day, and race from a top-down view against friends from Facebook, other live opponents, or a ghost car chasing their own best time. Weather in the race matches the real conditions in the chosen city, headlights come on after dark, the car scrapes and skids off the road edges, and tapping the space bar pulls the handbrake to slide through tight turns. A session ends when the driver crosses the finish line with a time to beat on the next lap.
- 1
The player launches MINI Maps inside Facebook and connects a Facebook account, then customizes a virtual MINI by picking a model and paint job; nine models exist in total, with flashier versions unlocked through play.
- 2
The player picks any location on the world map, using Google Maps' street map and satellite imagery as the playing field, then plots a personal track by dropping checkpoints along real streets, which can later be shared with friends.
- 3
Before racing, the player sets the race length, time of day, and difficulty, then chooses an opponent: a Facebook friend, a random challenger from anywhere in the world, or a ghost car of the player's own best lap.
- 4
The race unfolds from a top-down view on the actual streets of the chosen city, with weather and lighting matching real-world conditions there, including headlights and darkened visuals if it is nighttime at that location.
- 5
Handling responds to the real geometry of each location, with the car constrained by road edges, colliding with obstacles, leaving tire marks, and using a handbrake (spacebar) through tight turns.
- 6
Engine and tire audio are recorded from an actual MINI, with themed models such as a limousine, taxi, or police car carrying their own horn sounds and effects.
- 7
Finishing a race posts the player's time to leaderboards, creating records for others to beat and unlocking additional MINI models.
- 8
The player invites Facebook friends onto a built track or accepts challenges from strangers worldwide, with races run live in real time.
