Autoblog

BMW's MINI brand has never had a big advertising budget, but everyone would agree it's ad agency knows how to stretch a dollar. The latest promotion from MINI is a program called Motorby that takes interactivity at 60 mph to new heights. According to MotoringFile.com, a large MINI enthusiast/news site, select MINI owners were recently email an invitation to join the Motorby campaign, whereby they give MINI some scraps of info about themselves and are then sent a special key fob in the mail. Special billboards called Motorboards have been set up in cities like Chicago, New York, Miami and San Francisco, and when one of these MINI owners drives by the billboard will light up with a personal message like "Looking good today, Scooter," and "David, your hair looks great today". It's a very creative campaign, and if successful (and no one causes an accident by trying to read their message at speed), the brand may roll out the program to all MINI owners.

We have to assume that MINI has people on the back end screening the info that each owner provides, but we'd give our right foot for a pic of a Motorboard that says, "Did you read Autoblog.com today, Joe?" Come on, there has to be a few people at MINI who would let that slide, right?

[Source: Motoring File]

USA Today is reporting that General Motors will introduce a new key fob next April that makes your current controller look like a batter-powered key. The new fob wil feature an LCD display so that your vehicle can actually communicate things to you like the ' tire pressure, the odometer reading, how much fuel's in the tank, etc. You can also change the stereo's radio settings remotely and start the car with the fob if you've opted for GM's remote start package. Oh yeah, it'll unlock the doors, too. GM has jacked up the operating range of the fob by a factor of six so you can even pick up its signal in Ann Taylor while waiting for your wife/girlfriend to finish trying on turtlenecks (or is that just me?). The best part about the new key fob is its price: $150. That's not too shabby considering what it will do. The fob will initially be an option on the Cadillac Escalade and other pickups and SUVs across the automaker's brands. GM also promises it will cost less than $100 to replace if it were lost or broken. It has, however, been thoroughly tested to withstand the rigors of even the harshest daily routines, so durability shouldn't be a problem. Now if they'd only throw in 4GB of flash memory and let me hook it up to iTunes...

[Source: USA Today via Winding Road]

It used to be that you had to go out and buy a nice flashy keyring to tell the world about your premium ride. After all, relatively plain, black keys don't do much to inspire others to be jealous, or the girls to be more friendly. If you wanted to flaunt your ride socially, you had to stick the key on a branded ring.

Nowadays, however, in the age of multifunction key fobs, that's over. The fobs themselves have glitz factors all their own. Take, for example, the Bentley Continental GT/Flying Spur/GTC key fob. There are automobiles who's on-body badging is less detailed than the "winged B" on the Continental's key. And it's a substantial, weighty little bauble, as our own John Neff noted when he took delivery of our Flying Spur tester. It oozes quality and exclusivity. Attaching a real keyring to it, like the one in the photo, borders on being obnoxious.

Many other automakers are taking a similar approach, making the fob as visually arresting as possible. Brands like Jaguar and Cadillac leverage their well-known logos. Others go for a more high-tech approach, eschewing the traditional key altogether in favor of keyless entry and start systems that let the fob stay tucked away. Since keys are slowly going the way of the dodo, it's only natural that the electronic fobs that replace them become more ornamental. After all, most of the time, they never need to see daylight. For those occasions when they do, it makes sense for them to be as slick and recognizable as possible.

Edmunds has selected the top 10 key fobs out there today. We've listed their selections after the jump..

Thanks to Lucy for the tip!

[Source: Edmiunds}