Research shows Mercedes-Benz leads in luxury-car advertising

(November 5, 2014) RHINEBECK, N.Y. — Phoenix Marketing International, a global marketing services firm, today released data confirming that in the world of luxury car advertising, Mercedes Benz leads the pack.

The data is part of PMI’s Auto Audit, an industry leading diagnostic model that goes beyond ad awareness and recall measures to help marketers understand how their creative executions drive consumer response.

The audit, in place since 2009, looked closely at luxury automotive brand advertising for the last 18 months and revealed that Mercedes has been able to over deliver on key communication challenges including introductions of new and redesigned vehicles (E Class and M Class), brand image ads (The Best or Nothing) and sales event ads.



“Mercedes Benz tremendous brand equity and brand recognition contributes to their leadership in advertising performance among luxury vehicle consumers,” said Dennis Syrkowski, president, Automotive for Phoenix Marketing International.

“The luxury auto manufacturer has managed to excel in cutting through the preponderance of automotive ads and lifting consumers’ impression of their brand while improving purchase consideration with likable ads that are highly salient to consumers.”

Lift to brand impression (norm at 26%) and lift to purchase consideration (norm at 22%) were both significantly above the norm at 30% and 27% respectively. For advertising recall (norm at 29%), Mercedes also performed significantly above the luxury market norm at 30%. Consumers also see the ads as significantly more likable than the norm, at 36%, (5% above the norm). The luxury auto manufacturer also leads in getting consumers to take action with 43% of consumers engaging with the brand thru activities such as visiting a dealer, looking for information on dealer and manufacturer websites, and connecting with other consumers (online and socially) regarding the brand.

“Mercedes approach of delivering relevant, creatively stylish, yet relatable, messages and concepts that clearly convey the benefits of Mercedes vehicles, is a straightforward and powerful formula. One that resonates with highly sought after luxury vehicle consumers,” continued Dennis.

Phoenix Marketing International has researched consumer reaction to over 250,000 advertisements, and tracks leading brand indicators for hundreds of companies across several industry verticals. The PMI approach delivers specific insight into the key drivers of creative performance and in getting consumers to take action and engage with the brand.

About Phoenix Marketing International

Phoenix Marketing International is a premier global marketing services firm providing its clients with tailored, unique insight into their customers and markets via a wealth of existing proprietary data.