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R-Class Writers

Mercedes-Benz

Issue 2 | July 2008

Agency

Claydon Heeley

Creative Team

Simon Haslehurst - Art Director;Dave Woods - Copywriter

Production Team

Ross Dunstan - Project Manager

Other Credits

Mark Lainas - Senior Account Manager

Date

December 2006

Background

Mercedes launched the new six-seater R-Class - ‘their luxury multi-activity vehicle’ - in April and sales were below expectations. It competes with premium 4x4s and luxury estates. They needed to drive consumers to test drive and ultimately go on to buy the car, whilst also taking sales from major competitors.

Idea

People aren’t sure what an R-Class is. Is it an S-Class estate? Is it a posh people mover? Is it a SUV super estate? Actually it’s a genuine fusion - it has the roominess of an MPV, emotional strength of an SUV, style of a premium saloon/estate and temperament of a sport car. But research conducted on initial buyers indicated that the six individual seats are what really set it apart. The insight was that each person in the R-Class has so much space with their own individual seat, that they each have a unique, personal experience on the same journey. Leveraging this thought, Claydon Heeley devised the proposition: ‘Six perspectives on one great experience’.

They asked six famous writers from diverse fields to take a journey in the car together and share their personal experience - each from a different seat / perspective. The six ‘pen portraits’ are showcased on the right-hand pages of the mailer, accompanied by more technical product reviews on the left. Paper stocks reflect the writers’ different genres, such as novel, diary, moleskin and email print-out. Writers featured include: James Herbert (horror), Adele Parks (contemporary women's fiction), Paul Schoonenberg (travel journalist), Mike Harris (editor of Golf Monthly), Laurence Anholt (children's author) and Will Hodgkinson (music writer). On the microsite - at sixjourneys.mercedes-benz.co.uk - the six writers read their accounts aloud.

Results

Not yet available.

Target Audience

The mailing was sent to both Mercedes-Benz R-Class prospects and also some Mercedes customers nearing their replacement window. The pack also went to drivers of competitor cars such as the BMW 5 series and Audi A6 estate.

Size

40,000 packs

Our Thoughts

This is one of those ideas that works only because it has been executed with great attention to detail. Laurence Anholt’s page of praise to the Mercedes is charming. One little niggle. James Herbert. He writes, ‘I’m not an advertising copywriter…’. But he was, he was - before he made his millions from writing horror stories.

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