The MINI has already proven itself to be the little car that could in the States, and now MINI USA have called on Kent based public relations specialists PFPR Communications to help them continue the MINIs success story in America.
PFPR have never before ventured into overseas operations, but with the MINI USA deal they are expanding into the US by way of appointing an experienced PR specialist in the US.
In a press release, PFPR describe their role partnering MINI USA as “to support the introduction of forthcoming new MINI models in the USA, to sustain US media interest in and coverage of the existing MINI USA range and to help manage communications of the company’s pioneering field trials of the MINI E electric vehicle.”
The PFPR team led by Peter Rawlinson in the UK and Yvonne Malmgren in the US will report to Nathalie Bauters, MINI USA Corporate Communications Manager, who is based at the company’s North American headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
PFPR CEO Peter Rawlinson, taking obvious delight from striking the deal with MINI USA is quoted as saying
For a high-profile US-based company to select a UK agency to work on an American domestic PR programme represents significant confidence in PFPR and we’re delighted that MINI USA has called upon our international automotive specialist skills and our newly-established American operation. However, this partnership should not come as a surprise as MINI has forged a reputation for innovation and creativity in its leading-edge communications, and PFPR has an unrivalled track record of working with automotive manufacturers in diverse world markets.
Meanwhile, MINI USA has announced the establishment of a research partnership between the BMW Group and the University of California at Davis (UC Davis), to further focus on real-world experiences with the MINI E. The research is expected to provide insight into real-life usage and perceptions about electric vehicles during the trial period. The study is gathering information from 50 voluntary participants, a subset of the 450 MINI E customers in the US, through online travel diaries, written questionnaires and a series of interviews conducted throughout the one-year study.
This is very similar to the arrangement in place for the forthcoming UK MINI E field trials established between MINI UK and Oxford Brookes University, who will be responsible for undertaking scientific data analysis and conducting customer surveys of the UK MINI E trialists.
The feedback and data provided by these early users is valuable because it comes from real-world, everyday use and not some laboratory experiment,
said Jim McDowell, Vice President, MINI USA.
Whether it’s coming from the UC Davis research, consumer blog sites or from direct feedback to our company, this trial is giving us an important insight into the practicalities of using an electric powered vehicle in this country.
Tags: Electric Vehicles, EVs, mini e, MINI E Field Trails, mini uk, mini usa
