Feature: Mercedes and the fashion world
<a href=www.upi.com>Look at the full article By Sonia Kolesnikov UPI Business Correspondent From the Business & Economics Desk Published 3/25/2003 9:53 AM
SINGAPORE, March 25 (UPI) -- Cars have long stopped being looked at as a pure means of transportation. The right car now makes a statement about achievement and personality.
"It's all about expressing ourselves, our own ideas. In a way, it's very similar to fashion," says Justus Schneider, the director for worldwide marketing communication at Mercedes-Benz.
For this reason, the German luxury car manufacturer, part of the DaimlerChrysler group, is actively courting the fashion world on a global basis, as part of a three-pronged marketing strategy, along with sports and films.
It started with the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week, now in its sixth year, which showcases the latest collections from leading Australian designers and giving the opportunity to young designers to present their creations in a setting akin to their contemporaries in Milan, Paris, London and New York.
It was followed three years ago by a similar Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, and this year Mercedes-Benz going all out to show itself as the car of reference for the fashion world by sponsoring new fashion festivals in Singapore, Seoul -- from Wednesday until April 2 -- and Los Angeles, from Monday through April 4.
More is to come, Schneider told United Press International in an interview, as the company will soon announce a "team-up" with a European designer. Schneider wouldn't reveal this name, only saying "It's going to be very exciting, but it will be announced in May and it's not yet appropriate to give any details."
Schneider was in Singapore at the start of the Singapore Fashion Festival 2003, where the company is for the first time sponsoring the Mercedes-Benz Asia Fashion Week, a platform for rising designer talents in the region.
"We want to establish Mercedes-Benz on a global scale in this vibrant industry that can deliver a lot to our brand. ... We want to be seen at the cutting edge," Schneider explained.
Fashion is part of a three prong marketing strategy for the car manufacturer, along with sports and films.
The company has had its name associated with the German national soccer team for many years, and is also sponsoring the international ATP Tour. The film industry is also an integral part of Mercedes-Benz strategy, though Schneider stressed the company never pays for its product to be placed in, "unlike some of our competitors."
A Mercedes-Benz was recently showcased in "Men in Black II," while competitor BMW "placed" its car in the latest James Bond. "We have an agency in Hollywood that screen scripts for us, and a lot of focus is spend on placement activity," Schneider said.
In the fashion world, the company has embarked on a global initiative, and is planning activities in Mexico, Venezuela, Canada, Hong Kong and Germany. There is a plan for a fashion festival in Hanoi, Vietnam, this year. Mercedes manufactures some of its car there
"Design trends are the same whether in architecture, cars or fashion. The difference is that a building design must survive centuries, while fashion survives a season. Car design has to be sustainable for some time, maybe 20 years, which is why we need to understand what's going on in terms of trends, styles," he said.
Frank Messer, president and chief executive office of DaimlerChrysler South East Asia added, "World class fashion designers push the limits of design in their search for excellence and in the process of setting new trends. In the same way, our Mercedes-Benz designers are challenged to create trendy and timeless designs by combining innovation and style."