Mercedes-Benz: How planning made a brand younger by going back to the classroom

This case study describes two UK campaigns by Mercedes-Benz, the car manufacturer, which sought to target a younger demographic.

Mercedes-Benz: How planning made a brand younger by going back to the classroom

Ollie Gilmore and David EdwardsAMV BBDO

Summary

This paper describes a shift from planning comms that teach, to planning an environment that best enables people to learn.

For decades, Mercedes-Benz had suffered from a perception that their cars are for pensioners, with Audi and BMW seen as more dynamic, 'youthful' options.

The insight to confront this came from surveying category comms. With its short headlines, stats-focus, impersonal tone and Teutonic' feel, it felt like an uninviting classroom.

So we created the opposite. In Escape the...

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