Mercedes Takes Aim at Small (but Rich) World
Mercedes-Benz will partner with invitation-only social network ASmallWorld on an interactive campaign to support the luxury carmaker’s efforts to sell itself to ASmallWorld’s 260,000 affluent members both online and offline.
On the walled garden of the ASmallWorld.net Web site, Mercedes-Benz will become the first brand partner to broadcast on the new ASmallWorld TV page, using car news, product features and other luxury event content already hosted on its own IPTV platform, www.mercedes-benz.tv. Mercedes will also sponsor and brand the ASmallWorld message section.
The offline collaboration will begin with a unique experiential promotion in which selected ASmallWorld participants will be invited to travel to the south of France to take driving instruction in a Mercedes-Benz SLR Roadster at the Circuit Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track in Le Castellet.
ASmallWorld has placed a home page link to a Mercedes-Benz microsite that highlights the driving event and gives more detail about the company’s vehicles. Information about future events hosted by Mercedes-Benz will be automatically integrated into the Web site’s calendar of events around the globe.
In the past, ASmallWorld members have been given the opportunity to attend Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin and the Laureus World Sports Awards, of which Mercedes parent Daimler is a co-founder and patron.
“As a global brand, we are continually expanding beyond the classic communication channels,” said Olaf Gottgens, vice president of brand communications for Mercedes-Benz Cars, in a statement. “This partnership opens up a new avenue that makes direct dialogue possible. The partnership with the ASmallWorld community enables us to reach a young, influential target group and to become part of their everyday interactions.”
Founded more than three years ago by former investment banker Erik Wachmeister, ASmallWorld maintains that it serves as a private network that helps its elite members, most of whom already know one another, to communicate online.
However, the network has helped other brands speak to its high-end audience. Last fall Remy Martin and agency MEC Interaction announced a three-month advertising and promotional campaign designed to bring ASmallWorld influencers for tasting parties serving its Louis XIII cognac, retailing for $1,500 to $1,800 a bottle.
