ULTIMATE BRANDSarah Mikal Dalusma

BRAND THROUGH TIME

Karl Benz Creates the first petrol powered car

1886

1902

1909

1909

1916

1926

1989 2013

2015

Today

MY MERCEDES EXPERIENCE

I was exposed to the brand when i was 11 years old when my mom purchased her first Mercedes Benz. Having been a family who only brought Toyotas in the past, I was completely enamored by the high quality of this luxury car.

Our household has been using Mercedes for 10 years and I have personally been using my own for 2 years.

Because it is a car that lasts a life time, my family buys a new car do not purchase it often (one every 15 years)

The feelings that I have when I drive my car: Warmth, Security, Social Approval and self respect.

THE MERCEDES DISTINCTION

Product Value PropositionBrand Value Proposition

Safety Tradition Innovation Quality

Mercedes Me

Mercedes Embrace

Mercedes Executive Club

Mercedes Car Service

“Elegance and authenticity through engineering excellence”

High Disposable Income

Detailed & Design Oriented

Alpha Male/Female

Corporate World Aspired

Would be in the mid 40’s to 50’s

His average income would be between 80k +

Wants the best quality out of everything & only get things on what he trusts and relies on.

High competitive spirit & wants to exceed expectation in life and at work

close to its country traditions and still applying them

Has a corporate job and lives in an urban environment

BRAND AS A PERSON

If Mercedes-Benz was a person

PERCEPTUAL MAP

AVERAGE BRAND PRICEAVERAGE BRAND PRICE

BRAND VALUE ADDED

BRAND VALUE ADDED

50k30k 40k20k 60k 70k 80k 90k 100k 110k 120k10k5k5k-

LOW

HIGH

Alpha Brand: The brand is a natural leader in the automobile industry as its claims to be pioneers. Mercedes Benz is unapologetically confident in its branding positioning. The are not modest and are very transparent at the fact that they are targeting the alpha’s of this world.

High Disposable Income: Mercedes targets wealthy consumers who want to show their professional successes and are looking for a reliable car attached to their image.

Design & Details: When it comes to the symmetry of the design, the speed of the car or the high quality of the raw used in its production, the brand is conceptualized to follow a model of excellence.

Corporate Aspired: In addition to it’s near to perfect design, the Mercedes is meant to be a tool to reinforce as competitive sense amongst its users and non-users. It implicitly a form of hierarchical success in life (Financially, socially or professionally). It is for this reason that Mercedes is generally aspired by people working in the corporate world (this environment usually thrives on hierarchy, competition and success)

Relationship Between the Value Added and The Average Price of a Car

• There is s strong correlation between the brand value and the price of the car: Higher priced cars generally provide high value added. Most Lower priced cars do provide a relatively high value added as well but not as often and not as common than higher priced cars.

• Surprisingly, cars that are not considered as luxury brands such as Acura and Toyota have also been ranked as the one of the best cars according to a E-marketer consumers based-survey in 2015. This means that it is possible to add value through a car at a lower price with differentiation and aggressive marketing strategies.

• No brands were found in the lower right quadrant because usually cars that cost a lot of money at production provide a lot a features to not only the product ( design, radio set, speed of engine) but also to the consumers (exclusive clubs, competitive customer cars and partnership with other brands)

Brand Logo Mercedes has changed the logo of the brand a total of 11 times since its existence and they usually change it approximately every 7 to 10 years. They value their brand identity but they also want to keep up with the trends of the decades

Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz is a German automobile manufacturer, a multinational division of the German manufacturer Daimler AG. The brand is used for luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. The headquarters of Mercedes-Benz is in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Vehicle Design Although Mercedes-Benz designs have consistently proved ahead of their time, the vehicles are often described as timeless. And that's not surprising. Because of the brand, the design is an outward expression of the same values we've held dear for more than 125 years. So no matter the aerodynamics, the specifications and the technical requirements, every new Mercedes-Benz design is simply a new interpretation of the things the brand always believed in.

Branding positioning • Tradition is always respected by the front and rear design of the vehicle. Through the age, it has evolved a bit but the core design of those parts still remains the same. In addition, the logo itself is always presented in the same

way depending on the “Class” (logo standing above the hood or included in the radiator grille). In the newer advertising, they often add that the company has “125 years of innovation”.• Innovation is shown by the attribute displayed: in this case, it is the “Distronic plus” or “125 years of innovation”. Mercedes-Benz highlights the fact that the car is at the top of the innovation in order to be perceived as

“modern” and respond to its heritage.• Quality is always advertised by the slogan “The best or nothing”. Even without the slogan, quality is already implanted in the consumers’ mind by the brand heritage, the German made etc.• Safety is always included in the video clip advertisement somehow. Although, in print ads. the safety doesn’t always appear. In the case of the adv. shown below, the innovation is related to safety.

Product Value Proposition • Mercedes Men and Mercedes Embrace a personalized platform for users of Mercedes me that gives access to exclusive access• Mercedes Car services offers an exceptional customer service and top of the line maintenance service

PRESENTER’S NOTE