Mercedes gears up for Fashion Week
Mercedes-Benz plans to amplify its association with fashion through a host of celebrity and social media tie-ups, as well as branded content releases, in the coming weeks as it prepares for London Fashion Week where it is an official sponsor.
The car manufacturer is plotting a host of activity in the run-up to the weeklong event, which takes place 13-17 September, including an experiential executions with illusionist Dynamo, displaying a Mercedes vehicle that is customised by design house Spencer Hart and a “series of fashion-related videos”, that will be promoted across its social media footprint.
Rob Halloway, Mercedes-Benz’s communications and events director told Marketing Week the company was preparing the activity, which also includes tie-ups with fashion media brands such as GQ, designers and the organising body of London Fashion Week The British Fashion Council, to further bolster its appeal with younger, and especially female, audiences.
Halloway remarks how the activity reflects the evolution of Mercedes-Benz’s marketing from being “pretty traditional” to a more digitally-focused approach, that would lead to “an expansion of the perception of the brand, as opposed to a shift”.
This has been reflected in the average age of Mercedes-Benz’s owners dropping from an average of mid-50s to mid-40s in the last couple of years, according to Halloway.
Mercedes-Benz has been involved with London Fashion Week since 2009 as it attempted to align itself with the interests of younger audiences, especially since its A Class range of vehicles was launched.
“The A Class [Mercedes-Benz] is a new type of vehicle to appeal to this kind of demographic… and we wanted to align the brand communications to reflect this change,” he adds.
Also involved in this strategy is an increased push on its social media front with the brand also offering its ‘fans’ the possibility of becoming “social correspondents” at events such as Grand Prix events and catwalk shows at London Fashion Week.
