Despite what some Mercedes-sponsored events—like the Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge or Fashion Week—might suggest, the brand is not just for Prada-clad, polo-playing aristos. The carmaker is out to prove that its cars, especially the ones in its C Class series, are hip, cool and, most importantly, affordable for Gen Xers. C-Spot, a 16-city tour designed to bring the Mercedes brand and driving experience to the consumer, is designed to change young buyers' perception of Mercedes as a brand for older people. "We've built an event that people will walk away from saying to themselves, 'A Mercedes is for me,'" said Chuck Johnsen, Mercedes' manager of the department of sports marketing and consumer events. "A big goal is to be on the future shopping lists of these people."
Johnsen hired EventQuest and Automotive Marketing Consultants Incorporated (AMCI) to produce the tour, which included both lifestyle and hands-on driving components. At the New York stop, Mark Veeder of EventQuest erected a tent on top of Shea Stadium's parking lot. Inside, he created a clean, modern luxury product showcase for Mercedes and its event partners. The white walls of the tent displayed images of the C Class cars interspersed with cityscapes. In the center of the tent, a C Class sedan was parked inside a stainless steel, U-shaped wall where a Mercedes spokeswoman extolled the virtues of the car to the audience as they reclined on lounge furniture from event sponsor Design Within Reach.
On the other side of the wall was a video game geek's dream come true: Microsoft XBoxes hooked into large plasma screens were paired with overstuffed recliners (the men at the stations seemed to lose interest in the whole car.phpect of the event once they settled into the games). The Sharper Image demoed black leather massage chairs in the same area. "Gen X-ers are different than any other group that [Mercedes has] marketed to. We gave them an immersive experience that grabbed at their heartstrings and blew them away as soon as they walked in," Veeder said.
Behind the wall, masseuses from Bliss gave hand massages, and MSN, Saks Fifth Avenue and Continental tires set out areas that showcased their products. Sponsor Coca-Cola stocked its Raize and Psych energy drinks in high-tech LG refrigerators, so guests could check out two sponsors and grab a beverage at the same time. Behind the tent, Tim Gaffney, AMCI's eastern region vice president, set up three courses for guests to test drive the cars. A fourth course, called "Hot Laps," required guests to don helmets to take a spin with one of AMCI's race car drivers, who took guests for a heart-stopping ride that exceeded 100 miles per hour to show off the cars' speed and braking abilities. (Eating hors d'oeuvres before participating in Hot Laps would have been ill-advised.)
With the help of advertising agency Footsteps, a firm that specializes in marketing to African-American consumers, and Admerasia, a firm that targets Asian-American consumers, Mercedes brought together a diverse group of attendees. Guests were given appointment times to ensure that no more than 200 guests entered the event at once, and guests had enough time to listen to the presentation, peruse the products in the tent and partake of food stations by London-based catering firm Eat to the Beat before heading outside for the test drives. The last scheduled group of the day—guest names were culled from lists provided by Vibe magazine—was treated to an intimate, one-hour concert by Erykah Badu.
The New York City stop of the tour proved successful beyond even Johnsen's expectations. Of the 2,953 guests who attended the event over the three-day period, 973 sales leads were generated from the post-event survey guests filled out upon departing.
—Suzanne Ito
Read our Q&A with Mercedes-Benz's event marketing head Carol Goll...
Johnsen hired EventQuest and Automotive Marketing Consultants Incorporated (AMCI) to produce the tour, which included both lifestyle and hands-on driving components. At the New York stop, Mark Veeder of EventQuest erected a tent on top of Shea Stadium's parking lot. Inside, he created a clean, modern luxury product showcase for Mercedes and its event partners. The white walls of the tent displayed images of the C Class cars interspersed with cityscapes. In the center of the tent, a C Class sedan was parked inside a stainless steel, U-shaped wall where a Mercedes spokeswoman extolled the virtues of the car to the audience as they reclined on lounge furniture from event sponsor Design Within Reach.
On the other side of the wall was a video game geek's dream come true: Microsoft XBoxes hooked into large plasma screens were paired with overstuffed recliners (the men at the stations seemed to lose interest in the whole car.phpect of the event once they settled into the games). The Sharper Image demoed black leather massage chairs in the same area. "Gen X-ers are different than any other group that [Mercedes has] marketed to. We gave them an immersive experience that grabbed at their heartstrings and blew them away as soon as they walked in," Veeder said.
Behind the wall, masseuses from Bliss gave hand massages, and MSN, Saks Fifth Avenue and Continental tires set out areas that showcased their products. Sponsor Coca-Cola stocked its Raize and Psych energy drinks in high-tech LG refrigerators, so guests could check out two sponsors and grab a beverage at the same time. Behind the tent, Tim Gaffney, AMCI's eastern region vice president, set up three courses for guests to test drive the cars. A fourth course, called "Hot Laps," required guests to don helmets to take a spin with one of AMCI's race car drivers, who took guests for a heart-stopping ride that exceeded 100 miles per hour to show off the cars' speed and braking abilities. (Eating hors d'oeuvres before participating in Hot Laps would have been ill-advised.)
With the help of advertising agency Footsteps, a firm that specializes in marketing to African-American consumers, and Admerasia, a firm that targets Asian-American consumers, Mercedes brought together a diverse group of attendees. Guests were given appointment times to ensure that no more than 200 guests entered the event at once, and guests had enough time to listen to the presentation, peruse the products in the tent and partake of food stations by London-based catering firm Eat to the Beat before heading outside for the test drives. The last scheduled group of the day—guest names were culled from lists provided by Vibe magazine—was treated to an intimate, one-hour concert by Erykah Badu.
The New York City stop of the tour proved successful beyond even Johnsen's expectations. Of the 2,953 guests who attended the event over the three-day period, 973 sales leads were generated from the post-event survey guests filled out upon departing.
—Suzanne Ito
Read our Q&A with Mercedes-Benz's event marketing head Carol Goll...
At Mercedes' C-Spot event at Shea Stadium, EventQuest created a lounge area with furniture from event sponsor Design Within Reach where guests could relax while a Mercedes representative talked about the features of the new C Class cars.
A sponsorship area with white wall panels illuminated with animated video projections featured displays by Saks Fifth Avenue, Continental tires and Bliss spa.
Hors d'oeuvres from Eat to the Beat were laid out on a silver steel bars.
Another sponsorship area featured massage chairs from the Sharper Image and video game stations.
