Marcedes Benz: Brand Positioning
Mercedes
Benz is one of the most celebrated names among the Luxury
automobile brands in the world. The German automobile company has been
around for more than a century, now operated by Daimler-Benz and
is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
Carl
Benz is regarded to be the founder of this company, his 1986
patent 'Benz Patent Motorwagen' is widely considered to be
the first automobile.
"Mercedes
Benz Headquarters"
Market
segmentation
They divide
a market into different geographical
units such as nations, regions or cities: it is mainly targeted toward somewhat
wealthy countries. Mercedes Benz demographic
includes adults, both male and female, mostly middle-aged people. They are not
very popular with youngsters since the brand is very expensive. It’s a car you
can use on a day-to-day basis, whether going to work or to the grocery store.
Most of the people that purchase the S class do it for different reasons;
quality, beauty, speeds, etc. The target market for the Mercedes Benz is middle
aged people of middle to high incomes.
BRAND
POSITIONING: Mercedes Benz has adopted a
positioning strategy as a manufacturer of highly reliable and safe automobiles,
resulting in a price premium relative to similar international competitors. Today
a Mercedes Benz offers exclusive new breakthroughs to help make an accident
less severe, less damaging, or even less likely. Due to their heritage, they’re
engineered to protect you in ways you might ever have imagined. 'A replacement
for the Horse', this is the slogan Carl Benz used for advertisement of his 1886 Patent Motor Car. Mercedes-Benz's slogan is 'The best or
nothing'.
Mercedes Benz along with BMW and Audi are said to
be the most expensive and competitive brands in cars industry. BMW is renowned for their unmistakable looks. This is why the BMW Individual
Collection offers a wide range of equipment options for discerning customers.
Besides, Audi is
very well known for its performance based luxury cars. And Mercedes Benz on
the other hand, BMW is strongly associated with performance, speed and handling
excellence.
Points of difference: Indeed, Mercedes-Benz embodies elegance and
precision better than anybody: the sleek, long lines and the radiator grill
integrated into the front of its cars are some of its brand-defining features
that seduce consumers. Safety innovation is another Mercedes’ Point of
Difference: the carmaker pioneered a system able to detect imminent crash
called “Pre-Safe” in 2002, and won a Safety Award in 2007 for 50 years of
automobile safety innovation.
Points of parity: In order to legitimately compete in
the high-end cars market, BMW and Mercedes-Benz must have associations in
common with their competitors (POPs). Indeed, to compete between each
other and against other premium brands such as Audi, both carmakers have to
maintain a reputation for the quality of their cars: high quality build,
finishing, design, motorization, etc.
Improvements
Mercedes Benz must continue to protect their valuable trademark
and reputation. They must make consumers feel that the products they use are
worth it. The consumers should be able
to sort their specialty and unique innovative ideas. Otherwise, they may lose
the company’s reputation.
