See Summaries.
Pulling the Threads Together
From yesterday's meeting (see Meeting Notes, June 16):
What I think works about BMW's MiniUSA site, is the high level of "interactivity." Notice that you can see, in quite high quality images, the results of your choices -- for instance, the blue panels in the car's interior were selected, the mapfinder gadget shows up on the dashboard when picked. Also, many of the customization options play on the "history" and associations of the car. Racing kits -- part of the original Mini's options from the mid-nineties (if not earlier) -- signpost the original car's victories in the Monte Carlo rally of the 1960s. The options that produced my "Austin Powers" Mini signal the "Swinging Sixties" and their various reinventions (e.g. Britpop and "Cool Britannia").
So far, where cars do have previous associations, they're not really playing up to them. A "Love Bug" kit for the VW Beetle? Safari or military kits for Land Rovers? Is this gap a bad or a good thing from the consumer's POV? The Mini plays upon its "cheekiness" or sense of fun -- would this be inappropriate for more "serious" cars?
Some Common "Flaws"
Several of the online customization "workshops" had one flaw in common. The pictures of the cars seemed far too small for any minor changes to be really noticeable. And in most cases, many of the changes wouldn't have a noticeable effect on the external appearance of the car, anyway. It's entirely possible to go through all the steps of customization and end up with a car that doesn't look significantly different from the car would have done, if you'd have made radically different choices. Most of the options concern performance specs, cold weather kits, and so on. Very few sites -- the Smart Car perhaps being an example -- allowed the same degree of external customization as the Mini site.
The Fun Factor
I think that, of these pages, the virtual workshops that I had the most "fun" with were the Mini's (surprise!), the Smart Car, and several of Honda's models. The Mini won out by sheer variety of options. I must admit that, although I do like various "toys", I'm not particularly technically oriented. Much of the Mini's charm came from especially superficial cosmetics such as transfers/ designs. Meanwhile, the Smart Car's ability to combine different color schemes,and the bold "tridion" design made this a lot of fun to play around with. One thing that was missing from the website -- and I've seen on Smart Cars in Italy and Britain -- was any hint of "limited edition" panels. I've seen quite a number of strikingly patterned Smart Cars in Europe, and wondered why I couldn't find any similar designs online.
Each of these also had very large graphic representations of the cars that responded quickly and seamlessly to various choices.
Posted at May 31/2005 03:32PM:
Michael Shanks: the Mini site has humor and "character" and this is connected to the history of the Mini - potentially you can make a personal story out of your Mini
? again the importance of "narrative" ?
and of customer individuality rather than just the individuality of the brand or marque
Comments?