“Oh Lord, Won’t You Buy Me a Mercedes-Benz?”

I’ve always loved Mercedes-Benz, but always found their amazing cars incredibly pricey and aimed towards people with means – O.k. upper middle class.

Weeks ago, while I was watching the Superbowl, Mercedes Benz kicked off the company’s advertising campaign to unveil their new, lower-priced, sleeker, smaller car – the 2014 CLA Sedan. Normally, I’m intrigued by the entertainment value of Superbowl commercials, but this particular ad lured me in and actually motivated me to research the awesome looking car with luxury features like panoramic moon roofs, wood trim, heated seats, rearview camera, parking system, multimedia packages, etc.

Take a look:

Their slick ad with Williem Dafoe, as the devil, along with celebrity Kate Upton did an awesome job of branding and positioning the new sedan aimed at potential new customers in their twenties, thirties and forties. And it’s price point is reasonable as well, for a Mercedes that is. The CLA’s base price is about $30,000 compared to their average cars that start in the mid-50’s.

It’s scheduled to hit U.S. markets in September of this year, but the question remains was it financially beneficial to spend millions of dollars on advertising to launch their campaign during Superbowl on a product that won’t debut till later this year? Will it lose it’s momentum and consumer interest?

Either way, the company’s goal is to attract a younger market share and convert them to brand loyalists with their new car – potential consumers who might otherwise purchase a BMW 1 series or Audi A3 because they previously could not afford a Mercedes.

All in all, it will be interesting to see their next strategic campaign move to promote the CLA.

References:

Carty, Sharon (2013, January 13). Mercedes CLA 250 Aims To Attract Younger Buyers Aol. Retrieved from: http://autos.aol.com/article/2014-mercedes-cla-250-detroit-auto-show/

George, Patrick. (2013, January 30). Mercedes Super Bowl Ad: Buy A CLA And We’ll Throw In Kate Upton And Usher. Jalopnik. Retrieved from: http://jalopnik.com/5980204/mercedes-super-bowl-ad-buy-a-cla-and-well-throw-in-kate-upton-and-usher