Mercedes-Benz E-Class Driving Event

Situation

The Sales Department at Mercedes-Benz Hungary planned to downscale the stocks of facelifted E-Class passenger cars in early 2014. They were looking for media and communication measures to support their objective and we agreed that the centre of activities would be a driving event.

Task

Since the E-Class was not a new model on the market at the time of the project, we aimed to demonstrate the wide range of configuration options and niche model variants that still gave new experiences to the Hungarian media. A Coupe and a Cabriolet were new additions to the line-up that also featured a T-Model with the all-new 9G-Tronic gearbox. We needed a central location for hosting the event where hospitality and company experts could serve the guests among test drives.

Action

Following a morning meet and greet session, participants took over the cars and drove to the event location. This enabled them to experience the advanced driving assistance systems before changing cars and try different chassis variants, configuration options or powertrains. The cars represented different use cases: Dream Cars (Coupe and Convertible), various company cars (for executives or shuttle service operators), a new model with petrol engine and a T-Model for families with high level of comfort and luxury equipment.

The event location offered a perfect photo opportunity to capture the cars in motion or while being still, a comfortable way of exchanging and comparing various models and a choice of longer or shorter routes to conduct the test-drives. In the meantime, infotainment tools helped the guests to learn more about the technology used in the cars and Lajos Mocsai, Head Coach of the Men National Handball Team delivered a keynote speech about the mindset of business decision makers, the primary target group for the E-Class.

Result

Positive coverage in key media about a model that has been on the market for a year. Successful communication of the versatility of the E-Class, its new features and Mercedes-Benz corporate messages about improving sales figures, the customer-oriented service packages and the benefits in the field of total cost of ownership.

Feedback

The project was classified as Best Practice in the Daimler Central-Eastern Europe & Africa and & Asia Region.

“For the first time since W124, Mercedes is really serious about the E-Class being its most defining model. This is not a surprise as it has been a while since they invested so much money into a life cycle update. According to some news, they would like to bring it closer to the S-Class and they aim for taking the market leader position in the premium segment by 2020.”Totalcar.hu

“This is not the same ZF gearbox that I tried a few weeks ago in Range Rover Evoque: 9G Tronic is Mercedes’ own development, the 7th generation of the brand’s own automatic gearbox. The number of gears increased by two but the box has become lighter, more compact and more economical. It works stunningly fine.”Vezess.hu

“Thanks to the local wholesale distributor, we took part in a test-drive event where we tried every chassis variants and many different powertrains of the E-Class. This made it obvious to compile advices for purchasing this model.” Autópult.hu

Background

Commissioner: Mercedes-Benz Hungary
Client: Mercedes-Benz Hungary
Supporting agencies: Pappas Auto, Gramy-H