Campaign by Mercedes-Benz USA Offers a Series of Cinematic Vignettes Illustrating Its Long History of Constantly Challenging What is Possible
The new “What Makes Us” brand campaign for Mercedes-Benz USA, which began airing during the Masters, celebrates the company’s ongoing commitment to reinventing what is possible, including innovations in luxury, sustainability and performance.
Comprised of six highly stylised 30-second television ads, the campaign underscores integral qualities of the brand as demonstrated by Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG vehicles and lyrical narration by Jon Hamm.
The campaign plays on attributes that the company’s products are known for, and uses them to show what drives the brand to constantly push the limits and, in so doing, advance automotive technology.
Consequently, this cinematic campaign transports viewers into both visual and verbal metaphors that stitch together an image of what makes the brand tick.
“Whilst most of the world knows what goes into producing unrivaled products from the brand, not many people have a real understanding of what drives the company to continue to challenge the status quo and never rest on its laurels,” said Drew Slaven, Vice President of Marketing for MBUSA.
For Mercedes-Benz, ‘stubborn’ is invincible, ‘difficult’ is worth it, and ‘can’t’ is a challenge. And for Mercedes-AMG, ‘first’ is forever, ‘curious’ is incurable, and ‘fearless’ is fuel.
Tethered to these evocative phrases, captivating imagery is paired with vivid personification to draw parallels between all that one word and one brand can encapsulate. Collectively, the ads offer a glimpse into the minds of the company’s innovators on a quest to work beyond convention and deliver on the brand promise of “The Best or Nothing.”
Highlighted throughout the “What Makes Us” campaign are a range of vehicles that give the company the most diverse product offering in the luxury segment and have made it the number one luxury brand in the US for two years running.
Featured are the ground-breaking, ultra-exclusive Mercedes-AMG Project ONE Hypercar; the powerful and sleek Mercedes-AMG GTR; the rugged and timeless G-Class; and the luxurious and refined CLS.
Like the vehicles themselves, the campaign was crafted with a mix of skilled artistry and innovative technology.
For example, two of the ads are entirely CGI and were “shot” in a completely virtual world. This pair of commercials, titled “First” and “Can’t,” utilise a state-of-the-art, collaborative VR software application called Nu Design with Atom View technology.
This cutting-edge programme allows production contributors to interact in real time from across the North American continent as if they were all together on set. Moving forward, this tool enables a whole new production paradigm.
The new commercials, created by Merkley+Partners, premiered 4 April during the Masters broadcast, televised by ESPN and CBS. The campaign is now in broadcast rotation and on a variety of digital platforms.
Since 2008, the company has been an International Partner of the Masters, and in 2014, became a Global Sponsor. During each of these Masters tournaments, Mercedes-Benz has celebrated its shared, long-standing heritage of excellence and passion for perfection by revealing some of the company’s most compelling stories and exciting new products to the world. This is the brand’s fifth consecutive year as Global Sponsor.
Mercedes-Benz was a two-time global winner of the World Branding Awards, in the Automotive category.
