How Long Can a Commercial Be?

There’s little relation between Lewis Hamilton’s F1 Mercedes and cars you see in the Mercedes showroom. But this Mercedes SLS AMG is racy enough for most, wouldn’t you say? This photo courtesy of  A.G. Photographe
There’s little relation between Lewis Hamilton’s F1 Mercedes and cars you see in the Mercedes showroom. But this Mercedes SLS AMG is racy enough for most of us, wouldn’t you say? This photo courtesy of A.G. Photographe

Did you see the one hour and thirty-nine minute commercial for Mercedes recently?

It ran on Sunday, November 23rd.

No media person could have dreamed it up.

No copywriter could have scripted it so perfectly.

It took a World Champion racing driver and an indecently quick car to make it happen.

As you might have guessed, this Mercedes ‘commercial’ was actually the Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi.

Lewis Hamilton came first in one hour and thirty-nine minutes.

Mercedes put on a show for 305.355 kilometers … fifty-five laps of brutal acceleration, hard braking and deft cornering.

With the win Hamilton amassed enough points to also clinch the Formula 1 World Championship for 2014.

Millions globally went ga-ga. Not my word, but that of a 20-something Mercedes fancier.

If that doesn’t equate to an effective Mercedes commercial, what does?

But to shine an even brighter light on the proceedings, Mercedes won the World Constructors’ Championship earlier in the season.

Talk about an ascendant star. This one is three-pointed.

On the heels of a 1955 world Championship came the Mercedes 180. We've heard that in certain African countries they're still on the road, operating as taxis.
On the heels of a 1955 World Championship came the Mercedes 180. We’ve heard that in certain African countries they’re still on the road,  as taxis.

This is the second World Championship for Hamilton and the first for Mercedes since 1955 when the legendary Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio was behind the wheel.

Still, what will it mean at the dealer level? Will it sell more cars?

Will it make Mercedes more competitive against BMW, Audi, Porsche, Volvo, Lexus and other makes?

Maybe.

Because isn’t there’s another race to be won?

The race to attract younger customers … like legions of 20-somethings who are aware of Formula 1.

When you capture young buyers with your entry-level car you begin to ensure your future.

Nothing’s new about that thought.

But with that in mind, here’s a bit of heresy for you.

There could well be a Mercedes passenger car that rivals the importance of their Formula 1 car.

Look to the Mercedes CLA-Class for that.

The CLA-Class is the $30k starter package for the brand.

It’s designed to globally advance Mercedes, bring new prospects into showrooms, deny brand share to competitors and set the stage for upselling.

Call it Step 1 in creating customers for life. Is there anything more vital to a brand?

Further to that, it might have been David Ogilvy who said that the first job of business is to make customers.

Because without them how will you make money?

So while the CLA-Class wins over younger buyers, the Formula1 program is gearing up to win more Formula 1 races.

Mercedes are already looking to 2015 by negotiating a new contract with Lewis Hamilton.

It could be well over £100 million — almost $157m — for five years.

Next season features 20 Formula 1 races staged right around the world.

It all starts in Australia on March 15th.

The US Formula 1 race is scheduled for October 25th.

Tune in and you could see Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes at it again.

Making another commercial.

Share with us. How do you use promotions to build awareness and attract new customers to your brand? Thanks for reading Whybetonto.com. Regards, Steve Ulin

 

 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.