A billboard that turns fans into the creative
MINI has launched an innovative electronic billboard on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm shopping boulevard. The billboard is connected to a Photo Box booth that captures the faces of MINI fans and puts them onto a massive screen along with each participant’s favourite MINI model, for a chance to win their preferred car.
Contestants have four colours and four models to choose from, including the MINI Hatch, Convertible, Clubman and Countryman.
The mechanic: Photo Box in Berlin. Facebook everywhere else
On the street, you step into the Photo Box, clamp on a pair of headphones, pick your colour and model, and the system outputs a ready-to-share moment on a giant public screen.
Fans from around the world can also join through the MINI Facebook app, where you can snap a picture with your webcam wearing a pair of virtual headphones in your favourite MINI colour.
In high-footfall city retail corridors, interactive out-of-home turns passersby into opt-in media by making participation itself the content.
Why it feels modern: ecommerce choice, but on a building
The experience borrows the best part of online shopping. Configuration. without forcing the rest of it. Specs, comparisons, and checkout. The “product” is self-expression, delivered in seconds, in public.
That public context matters. It creates instant social proof, and it makes the moment feel bigger than a personal post because it physically occupies the street.
The business intent: acquisition through identity
This is acquisition marketing that avoids hard selling. MINI lets people declare a preference. model plus colour. and then wraps that declaration in a contest mechanic. The brand gets reach, participation data, and a stream of shareable assets without asking people to create anything from scratch.
What to steal for your next interactive OOH build
- Make the choice set small and satisfying. Four colours and four models is enough to feel personal, without feeling complex.
- Design one iconic prop. Here, the headphones act as a visual signature that unifies street and Facebook participation.
- Let the environment do the distribution. A giant screen creates built-in attention and bystander reach.
- Mirror the experience online. The Facebook version keeps the same core mechanic so the idea travels beyond the location.
A few fast answers before you act
What is MINI’s Photo Box billboard activation?
It is an interactive out-of-home experience where fans take a photo, choose a MINI model and colour, and see themselves displayed on a massive screen, with a chance to win their preferred car.
How does the Facebook app extend the idea?
It recreates the same participation loop online. People take a webcam photo, add the virtual headphones in their chosen colour, pick a model, and join the same campaign experience from anywhere.
Why does this work as acquisition marketing?
It converts brand preference into a public, shareable artifact. The configuration step makes it feel personal, and the big-screen moment adds social proof and reach.
