Monday, April 17, 2006
Mercedes Sales Rise to a record March
Unlucky for big Julie maybe, but the Ides of March were good to Mercedes.
Sales were up 18% for the month, +17% for the year. Hopefully the nay sayers who have said nothing about how wrong they were thus far, are reading these results against their dire predictions about the demise of Mercedes-Benz.
They are surely realizing now that Integrated Marketing Campaigns work over time and while they maybe less sensational than the Apple 1984 Superbowl ad, they ensure every customer touchpoint is reached appropriately.
March did not include the G Class and sales of the new M were up 63% versus year ago, which augurs well for the light truck category.
But the stellar performance of the new S Class, up 119%, is consistent with the auto pundits praise of the redesigned model.
As reported on this blog, (Mercedes In Decline, we think not, 09/28/05), the S Class is the first effort for Scott Keogh in his return as general manager marketing. One of the touchpoints was a regular series of small space newspaper ads, never very popular with creatives in general, but a key component of this S Class creative campaign that supported Television with a DNA only Mercedes S Class could run.
Behind the scenes was the launch website that gave existing owners and hand-raisers early information as well as timely direct response.
Properly Integrated Marketing is the best stealth weapon as the most recent Mercedes sales prove. Each touchpoint builds exponentially on the previous one and the accumulation is more effective than a few more noticeable impressions. It is also more cost efficient.
But to some, it is less sexy. We don't plan to change this view, especially if they are competitors.
Dieter Zetsche Speaks At DaimlerChrysler's Annual Meeting
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Dieter Zetsche, CEO of DaimlerChrysler, took the stage at the company's annual meeting yesterday. As has been his motto in recent months, Zetsche preached a message of increasing operating profit by making the company more efficient and more flexible. To do so, the company will aim to make their administrative functions leaner and strive to eliminate redundancies between the Group and divisional levels. By accomplishing these tasks, reporting and decision-making will be performed faster, which Zetsche believes will "enable our operating units to focus on their core business of developing, building and selling fascinating vehicles."
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http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Apr06/12DieterZetscheSpeaksAtDaimlerChryslersAnnualMeeting.html
Thu, 13 Apr 2006 07:45:00 CST
Sales were up 18% for the month, +17% for the year. Hopefully the nay sayers who have said nothing about how wrong they were thus far, are reading these results against their dire predictions about the demise of Mercedes-Benz.
They are surely realizing now that Integrated Marketing Campaigns work over time and while they maybe less sensational than the Apple 1984 Superbowl ad, they ensure every customer touchpoint is reached appropriately.
March did not include the G Class and sales of the new M were up 63% versus year ago, which augurs well for the light truck category.
But the stellar performance of the new S Class, up 119%, is consistent with the auto pundits praise of the redesigned model.
As reported on this blog, (Mercedes In Decline, we think not, 09/28/05), the S Class is the first effort for Scott Keogh in his return as general manager marketing. One of the touchpoints was a regular series of small space newspaper ads, never very popular with creatives in general, but a key component of this S Class creative campaign that supported Television with a DNA only Mercedes S Class could run.
Behind the scenes was the launch website that gave existing owners and hand-raisers early information as well as timely direct response.
Properly Integrated Marketing is the best stealth weapon as the most recent Mercedes sales prove. Each touchpoint builds exponentially on the previous one and the accumulation is more effective than a few more noticeable impressions. It is also more cost efficient.
But to some, it is less sexy. We don't plan to change this view, especially if they are competitors.
Dieter Zetsche Speaks At DaimlerChrysler's Annual Meeting
−
Dieter Zetsche, CEO of DaimlerChrysler, took the stage at the company's annual meeting yesterday. As has been his motto in recent months, Zetsche preached a message of increasing operating profit by making the company more efficient and more flexible. To do so, the company will aim to make their administrative functions leaner and strive to eliminate redundancies between the Group and divisional levels. By accomplishing these tasks, reporting and decision-making will be performed faster, which Zetsche believes will "enable our operating units to focus on their core business of developing, building and selling fascinating vehicles."
−
http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Apr06/12DieterZetscheSpeaksAtDaimlerChryslersAnnualMeeting.html
