Building MINIWOOD • A First-of-Its-Kind, Scalable Virtual Production Studio

The introduction of the new MINI family in 2024—including the new all-electric MINI Cooper, the new MINI Countryman and the first-ever MINI Aceman—marked a pivotal moment in the brand’s journey. In addition to an entirely new product lineup, it included a complete gear shift in the overall strategy and a fresh corporate identity, all designed to meet consumer demands for personalization while upholding the brand’s quality standards. Creating content for three completely new products within a tight timeline is daunting on its own, but doing so while building a new visual style from scratch can be quite overwhelming. That is, unless you have access to a cutting-edge virtual production design system.

To help MINI create diverse content at scale, we built MINIWOOD, a first-of-its-kind digital production solution. Emulating Hollywood’s dynamic production capabilities, this dedicated virtual studio combines the power of Unreal Engine and our advanced automated managed service, Monks.Flow, to create automated workflows for a wide range of assets—from still images to entire product films. A major advantage is that MINIWOOD offers a pick-and-click web interface where producers and marketers can select, customize and start content production orders. It features a custom Universal Scene Description (.USD) workflow, capable of staging every possible car configuration and background setting, enabling the creation of diverse campaigns within a single modular setup and from a single render. 

MINIWOOD ensures a cohesive visual language across both virtual and live-action productions. Plus, its dynamic virtual environments highlight the unique character of each MINI model, enhancing product differentiation. By 2024, all 12 new models will be integrated into the virtual studio, with each family showcased in distinct worlds—like rugged settings for the MINI Countryman and vibrant urban locales for the Aceman. This approach helps us meet the high demand for content while remaining cost-effective. Moreover, it supports digital sales globally across the US, Europe and China, covering all model variants in both still and video formats. In other words, it provides unparalleled flexibility for marketers to create campaigns tailored to specific consumer insights and the nuances of different regional markets.

MINIWOOD’s innovative production technique creates all campaigns in a single virtual space, guaranteeing brand consistency in today’s programmatic world. Above all, it reinforces the brand’s playful and pioneering ethos in a thriving digital age. By transitioning from conventional photography to a state-of-the-art digital environment, MINIWOOD helps MINI enhance customer engagement through personalized, immersive content experiences. This creative approach not only enhances efficiency but also stands out as a strong asset in the competitive automotive market.