Mercedes Benz has done something pretty cool that has made enthusiasts, like me, like them a bit more!
I'm talking about the #140YearsofInnovation campaign. For me personally, this was one of the best campaigns Merc has done in a while.
I used to rank the German trio in this order: Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Mostly because Audi, in my opinion, is a mix of driving dynamics and comfort. BMW has always sat atop the driver's-car pedestal, while Merc has always been the sort of car you'd get chauffeured around in.
But recently, my perspective has shifted quite a bit.
Now, before any of you start coming at me asking if I've driven any of these cars, I haven't. I did sit in the back seat of an E-Class, though, and loved it to bits! What I'm realistically bringing to the table is the perspective of someone who aspires to own them.
And today, Merc has climbed up the ladder for me because of what they've done for me as an enthusiast.
As part of their 140th-anniversary celebrations, they brought GerCollector to India!
Now, the campaign itself is quite interesting. Called 140 Years of Innovation, Mercedes-Benz has been celebrating 140 years since Carl Benz filed the patent for his automobile in 1886. One of the biggest parts of this celebration was 140 Years, 140 Places., where three new S-Class cars, named Bertha, Carl and Gottlieb, set off from Stuttgart on a journey across six continents.
The idea was to visit 140 locations around the world, connecting with customers, fans and communities while celebrating the brand's history. They drove over 65,000 km across 55 countries before returning to Stuttgart in October!
India was part of this journey too. The cars travelled through some incredible places, from Hampi and Bengaluru to Goa, Mumbai and the landscapes of Ladakh. And somewhere in all of this, they brought GerCollector to India as well.
Although I wasn't there personally, it was fun watching fellow enthusiasts get to meet him. And since I follow GerCollector on social media, it was just as fun watching his experience here. The cattle on the road, the strangers he met, the traffic on our roads he experienced, and whatnot.
Mercedes could have celebrated 140 years by talking about its engineering, showing off its heritage, bringing out its iconic cars and reminding everyone how long it has been around. And it did plenty of that too. But it also gave enthusiasts something to experience, participate in and follow.
For me, bringing GerCollector to India was a particularly nice touch. He's not a conventional movie star or celebrity. He's someone who has built a following around his passion for cars, and whose experiences people like me genuinely enjoy following.
It's about time brands started celebrating the creators people actually follow. Because sometimes, the people shaping our perception of a brand aren't the celebrities on a movie screen. They're the people we follow online, watching them drive, collect and experience the cars we aspire to own.
And the interesting thing is, Mercedes didn't need to get me behind the wheel of one of its cars to change my perception. It did something for me as an enthusiast, and that has made me look at the brand a little differently.
That's a win in my book!