The great Mercedes Benz marketing mistake.
Iñaky Parra Marketing Expert.
The great Mercedes Benz marketing mistake. 22-04-2021
Mercedes, that is to say the lord and master of the road, many dream of one day having a Mercedes Benz, and many dreamed of having the Mercedes S-Class superior luxury saloon, as a wonderful, supreme, tremendous dream, but no longer it is so.
Gorden Wagener is a tremendous lazy, or a tremendous ignorant of marketing, because he has designed two cars of opposite ranges mid-range vs. top range, of the German brand, with an exactly the same design. Which means that if you buy a mid-range Mercedes C-class (eye it was always a rather low-end range), and you remove the C-class sticker on the back, you can perfectly say that you have an S-class, limited series sporty, for example, the C-class are smaller and sportier.
At a marketing level, what does this mean?
Well, as simple as that the market niches overlap, or do not differentiate well, and the perception of those who buy an S-class is that there is a deception, and the perception of those who buy a C-Class is that you little idiots, the Mercedes, they’re giving me an S-Class.
What are the advantages that those of Mercedes believe to have, with this strategy, they believe they can have more aspirational sales, sell cheaper cars and increase sales by offering an apparently more Premium product, for less price … This is the fundamental strategy of the brand, sell to the less rich, an apparently equal product, at a lower price, be very careful because in marketing it is exactly the same product, because we are talking about appearances.
What are the great disadvantages of this strategy, of overlapping two categories at the marketing level.
There are no longer two categories, there is one the C-S category, or what is the same, there is no higher category in the brand. The damage to the premium character of the brand is evident.
The high-luxury S-class customer moves from the S-class to the C-class, because he is not an idiot and he sees that it is the same car, for less price. And they feel cheated when buying a car exactly the same in terms of marketing, so the customer can make the leap to another Premium brand, such as infinity, or lexus, which clearly differentiate their superior sedans and this is one of the biggest risks for the German brand.
Losing high-end customers is a real threat with this overlapping category marketing strategy or mistake.
The S-class, so renowned and famous, its existence is threatened by this design error, which is both in the bodywork and in the interiors and, as we well know, Mercedes always ends up implementing all the technologies in all the classes, so it does not The S-class has no advantage, except for a few centimeters of sheet metal that does not constitute such a high price, much less knowing that a class lower than the E, is identical.
Mercedes Benz, if it does not rectify the S-class soon, its reputation as a luxury car will be diminished, to become a cheap mass consumption brand, such as Ford, Toyota, etc. If this is what you want, go ahead, it is the way.
What would be the correct strategy?
- A tremendous differentiation of classes, and being the S, the standard bearer, it must be the most differentiated, this will attract more high-end customers and will benefit the entire brand, which will be perceived much more Premium.
- The aspirational customer, who intends to capture Mercedes, the one who buys the middle class C, thinking that he buys an S, can be captured by giving the C class its own identity, not far below the E, for example , sportiness and functionality, more versatile, economical, and sports cars.
Mercedes Benz is in serious threat of becoming a brand, close to idiocy, the brand of idiots who pay for nothing. They justify that the S-class feels in the details, but the marketing and the first-look perception of the car, is the most important.
Sales will increase, multiply if this big mistake is corrected, and we will have beautiful cars and not scams.
I have a Mercedes S-Class, a tremendous car, which is perceived as tremendous, as the supreme king of the asphalt, which is the title this car deserves, and people can perceive it from the inside and from the outside. Today this can no longer be perceived, my car is from previous series. Nowadays nobody can have an S-class, from 2021, they can have a C-Class, which is really the maximum that the company has reached, I honestly believe that I will buy an infinity or Lexus as long as this does not change, I am not satisfied with a C.
Iñaky Parra Marketing Consultant
