The communication goal(s)

 
Mercedes-Benz is not a natural choice for young, affluent Turks. They perceive it as a car for old men who most probably work for the local mafia.  
Our task was to launch the new A-Class by showing how it fitted in with a young, modern lifestyle.  
Innovative Media Strategy  
High tax and interest rates limits Mercedes-Benz to Turkey’s super rich.  
Changing their perceptions would require getting them to spend time with and learning about the brand.    
So we created the ‘Get Your Own Star’ online competition.   
Exclusivity is a key driver for this group so targeted niche media, rather than mass, was used to notify and recruit a select group of contestants.    
Then over 4 weeks those contestants competed against each other by answering questions against the clock. The questions, including both general lifestyle and Mercedes-Benz specific, were chosen to build brand knowledge and positive associations.    
High value prizes, including an A-Class, were used to maintain interest.  

Engaging Creativity

The main device was the competition website which was carefully designed to be an engaging environment that matched the audience’s lifestyle aspirations with Mercedes-Benz brand values.

General questions were about sport, cinema, music and local culture. Mercedes-Benz questions were about its history, heritage, motoring passion, and its advertising.

Monitoring of chatrooms showed that these questions started a huge discussion of Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-Benz advertising as people looked for the answers – the exact reaction that we wanted.

Encompassing the Audience

Talking to this group specifically and exclusively would show the A Class to be a ‘brand that chose the same life’ and thereby build group acceptability.

So niche lifestyle TV channels; fashion magazines; business newspapers’ leisure sections; subscription websites; drive time radio; designer cinemas; e-mailings and interactive kiosks were all used to drive competition participation by combining target audience ubiquity with privileged exclusivity.

The website was ultimately an all-encompassing brand experience and focal point for an online community.

Effectiveness

Over 10,000 people subscribed to the website with 7,336 completing the contest.