One
lovely afternoon I happen to sit with a very well known figure of Automobile
industry in my office. We were just chatting about the general know how of the
car business and he happen to share with me a very interesting brand trick of
Mercedes Benz which I would love to share with you.
“When Mercedes
Benz decided to build its new
M Class off-road vehicle, it decided to build it and launch it in the USA. The
head of Mercedes USA knew
that at its launch, it would be entering a crowded market, and that the mere
fact that it was a Mercedes would
not guarantee sales. They had to try something different.
In
the USA it is possible to obtain free access to data and they obtained details
of all current owners of off-road vehicles and Mercedes cars. Mercedes then
undertook a series of mail-outs to the names on the database.
It
began with a personally addressed letter from the head of Mercedes USA. It said
something along the lines of - "...we at Mercedes are
in the process of designing a brand new off-road car and I would like to know
if you would be prepared to help us..."
Now
America is the land in which you receive probably more direct mail than any
other country in the world, but it is not every day that the head of Mercedes writes
and asks for your help! There was a significant, positive response. Those
people who responded received a series of questionnaires that asked for
guidance on design issues such as whether the spare wheel should be outside or
inside the vehicle, desired engine sizes, exterior colors and interior designs.
What
is interesting is that, along with the questionnaires, Mercedes began
to also receive advance orders! What these customers were feeling was that Mercedes was
custom building a car just for them. No other manufacturer had ever involved
them in the design and build process in quite the same way.
As
a result, Mercedes pre-sold
its first year sales target of 35,000 vehicles. It was expecting to spend some
$70 million US marketing the car, but by using this CRM one to one approach, it
only needed to spend $48 million saving $22 million. It is said that this
program was so successful that Mercedes is
looking to use the same approach in the future with other model launches.”
What
an Idea Sirji!
Marketing,
promoting and branding your business isn’t something you should do by accident.
A deliberate and consistent effort can make sure you get more return for your
marketing investment.
Keep Driving you motives
into your customers heart consistently :-)
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