Espace Commines, Paris 3e
A 5400 square feet location underneath a glassroof; the perfect place for a photographic exhibition.
Helmut Lang’s favorite place to present his fashion shows in Paris.

SITUATION

The MINI brand (BMW group) launched its first cabriolet in October 2004.

7 months prior to this launch, La MJC introduced in exclusivity the cabrio version of the MINI in an art gallery environment.

For reminder, during the Summer 200, La MJC had organized an exhibition involving MINI with WK Interact . The event was a great success (many visitors, large press coverage). This previous exhibit has contributed to the positioning strategy success of the brand.

CONCEPT

La MJC organized an event for MINI, to connect the brand with the art world, which involved an exhibition featuring internationally known photographers.

Two cabrios were presented in the center of the gallery, surrounded by the large printed artists’ visuals.

The creative direction was clear:
Each photographer has been asked to present his own vision of an urban sky landscape, the camera directed to the sky, as if they were shooting from the car.

The exhibition name « Always Open» was a reference to the cabrio and to the brief given to the photographers.

The exhibition was a one night event, by invitation only.
It was a private exhibition for 500 VIP guests invited by MINI and La MJC.

The exhibition :

10 photographers, all international artists participated in this exhibition.

Party program:
cocktail and music design by Béatrice Ardisson and Ariel Wizman.

The photographers:

- MARTHA CAMARILLO
- SERGE LEBLON
- BIANCA PILET
- MISS LIZ WENDELBO
- ANDRÉ WOLFF
- GEOFFROY DE BOISMENU
- MATHIEU BERNARD-REYMOND
- JÉRÔME BRYON
- GREGOIRE ALEXANDRE
- ALEX & LAILA

The visuals exhibited were printed in large format (79 x 99 inches) or
dyptic versions ( 47,5 x 63 inches) in exclusivity for the event.

The detail that made the difference:

A MINI car service was organized especially for the occasion.
This allowed guests to be driven to the exhibition and anywhere they wanted after the event.

GOALS

-Connecting the MINI brand to a prestigious photographic exhibition, and introducing the exclusive MINI cabrio version to a VIP target, 7 months prior to its official launch in France.

-Introducing the MINI cabriolet with actual sizes cars, through an artistic vision defining the brand positionning in 2004.

- Defining the ALWAYS OPEN concept, which now refers to the MINI cabriolet.

EXTRA PARTNERS

Janvier

RESULTS

-La MJC and its partner hosted 500 VIPs at the « Always Open » exhibition

-The wide prints of the visuals were greatly appreciated by the guests, who particularly enjoyed the different interpretations of the « Always Open » concept

- A very targeted PR & communication strategy was settled by the brand for the exclusive presentation of the new cabrio

- The selection of the guests in addition to the one night event concept, allowed La MJC to generate a real buzz in regards to the event