MINI Rooftop

How a $3M Investment Turned Into $5M PR Value

Text by Matthias Hollwich

Status  COMPLETED 2008

Location  NEW YORK CITY, NY

Client  BMW MINI BRAND

Size  1,000 SF

In collaboration with  KKLD*

Scope  CONCEPT-CA

Team  MATTHIAS HOLLWICH, ROBERT MAY, MARC PERROTTA, PATRICIA SAHM, PAUL SANDERS, JEFFERSON FROST, WILL KEMPER, EVAN V WATTS

Designing a grassy hilltop on a roof in the middle of Manhattan does not sound like an obvious architectural intervention for the BMW brand MINI, but it was a strategic one. Turning the roof into an urban oasis with an iconic hill attracted not only visitors for the 10-day premium event, but also press, PR, and influencers.

After a successful 10 days, and after the dust settled, the accountants got to work and estimated a 60% net positive value on PR, through estimates of the amount of people that followed the live feed, press coverage, and social media hits.