Mercedes-Benz EQ Integrated Digital Strategy

Story

The UK plans to halt the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040. However, with competitive forces and consumer interests shifting, it is predicted that this could be out by as much as a decade; the majority of new cars could be Electric Vehicles by as soon as 2030. As a traditional car manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz has lost a step to EV titans such as Tesla, upstarts such as Polestar and Pininfarina, and looming tech titan entrants including Apple, Dyson and Google. This is no longer a car market, this is an urban-sized tech market. And we had to produce a digital strategic roadmap to catalyse change into the post-catalyst era. 

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Approach

As a core tenet of Daimler's overarching 'CASE' strategy, this brief sat above individual car brands such as Smart and Mercedes-Benz. The initial phases saw a transition from the previous 'E-Mobility' umbrella into a, then to be launched, EQ sub-brand. Akin to the "AMG" in brand hierarchy, this transitionary work would ladder up across 9 months ahead of the launch of Mercedes-Benz's first ever all-electric vehicle, the EQC. There were three key phases to this: 

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1. Research and Insights

2. Strategic Routes and Tissue Sessions

3. Roadmaps and Rollout

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Research and Insights

To understand what this might mean for digital, we took to the streets to undertake Voxpops with our 'Electrically Curious' audience. With a discussion guide to loosely structure interviews, we garnered first-hand, candid insights of people's travel habits, inclinations towards the environment, and current thoughts on EVs. Responses bled caution, scepticism, misinformation, but most of all a sense of guilt - We would, but... The qualitative threads were paired with our market trend data, but we also needed to have an intimate knowledge of EVs ourselves -- not just a new set of nomenclature, this was a World of hybrid engine types, scattered charge points and a radically different type of vehicle experience. To get a truly rich view of the vehicles, and their difference to conventional road cars, we sent down a team of creative, strategists and client partners to Mercedes-Benz HQ to try first hand. From silent starts to zippy acceleration we wanted to convey what a totally different beast the EV, and the EQ range, was for new users.

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Strategic Routes and Tissue Sessions

With a bedrock of product and market knowledge, we developed a number of creative propositions that could be applied across a digital roadmap. Each beginning with an evocative manifesto, they ranged from very emotionally-centred to rationally-centred routes; we knew on the one hand that there were real, practical problems to overcome, but this was also a bet on consumers' future vision of the road. Through client tissue sessions and workshops, we resolved to the campaign proposition, Redefine what fuels you, applying a lifestyle lens to the problem, and talking about the benefits in real terms for the socially conscious -- £20 saved on a tank of fuel is a week's worth of Matcha Lattes.

 

Roadmaps and Rollout

In order to apply this to digital, we had to consider the way detail cascaded from the 'big idea' of RWFY to the minutia of reasons to believe, and how those stories could best be told across the various owned digital touchpoints. Our digital roadmap broke down these creative activations across the 9 month transition period. This included quick-wins such as inspiring-yet-keyword-rich content for the MB EQ sub domain, and longer lead-time executions such as an interactive EQ quiz for showroom touchscreens and as an on-site tool. Further, knowing the potential of this product range and the necessity to accelerate its route to market, we explored a number of high-concept activations including a lifestyle-configurator, partnering with anti-plastic brand Parley, or interactive workshops for families akin to the LEGO experience. 

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Outcomes

Within months, the pre-existing E-Mobility holding brand had disappeared from all digital collateral, and our new suite of content took life on the bespoke EQ hub. Keyword optimisation meant that content was leveraging the 61,600/mo organic search volume, and the first wave of digital activation, including the EQ quiz, are entering production. 

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