MERCEDES-BENZ KOREA
To reach new prospective customers, the luxury car brand ran an Instagram campaign with ad creative tailored to different stages of the purchase journey, lifting purchase intent by 6.2 points.
Mercedes-Benz is evolving by adding cutting-edge technology and differentiated sensibilities to the elegance of the well-known cars that it has built over 133 years. As the symbol of the classic sedan, the E-Class is actively passing on its unique customer experience to a new generation. The E-Class is also the first range of imported cars in Korea to reach a cumulative sales record of 100,000 single models.
increase in standard ad recall
lift in ad preference
lift in purchase intent
Mercedes-Benz Korea wanted to reach both existing and prospective customers, reconfirming trust in the brand for people who already own a Benz, while also helping potential customers recognize the brand’s unique strengths.
It’s rare to meet someone unfamiliar with the Mercedes-Benz brand, but the company maintains that only those who have driven a Benz know its true value. So when the luxury auto maker ran the “Class is an attitude” campaign, which conveyed gratitude toward existing customers, on traditional channels including TV, it also ran the “Did you know” campaign, targeted to prospective customers, on Instagram.
For the “Did you know?” campaign, which focused on what people might not know about the brand, Mercedes-Benz analyzed the way people communicate in digital environments, especially on Instagram. The team then used what it learned to build a creative strategy that reflected the individual characteristics of the various channels where the ads would appear, including Instagram feed and Stories, as well as Facebook News Feed. Mercedes-Benz then tailored ad content to the different phases of the purchase journey so it could reach people with the right message. Awareness and consideration ads, for example, focused on cutting-edge technology or the history of the brand as a whole and E-Class in particular. Conversion ads, on the other hand, promoted sales events.
The ads featured images in vertical format that fit better on mobile screens. One showed a 10-generation history of E-Class vehicles at a glance. Another simulated the experience of choosing the color of ambient light in the cars’ cabins, mimicking the behavior patterns of the Stories feature by allowing people to tap the ad to move to the next screen.
As a result, the campaign gave 2,040 prospective customers a new perspective on Mercedes-Benz. By thinking outside the typical customer persona associated with the classic luxury auto sector, Mercedes-Benz Korea reached new prospective customers in the 25- to 49-year-old age group through broad targeting—which exposes campaigns to the widest possible, non-overlapping audience—as well as retargeting. Further results included:
14-point increase in standard ad recall
4.9-point lift in ad preference
6.2-point lift in purchase intent
