10/31/2006 07:20:00 PM 
(1) 
(1) This center features everything anyone could possibly want to know and experience about brand Mercedes including; an off-road driving circuit, a road circuit, an immersive simulator ride through the production process and a brand gallery showcasing iconic Mercedes models from history.
The center is expected to attract 300,000 visitors a year.
It's interesting to read how Mercedes explains the strategy behind the center.
"The automotive world is a highly competitive one and the success of all brands is constantly under attack. As manufacturing and design standards have risen in all cars, brand differentiation becomes more and more difficult. The opening today of our new brand centre in the UK marks another important milestone in our history, and enables our customers to appreciate just what it is that makes our brands and product very special."
Dr Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management DaimlerChrysler
Mercedes believes that brand centers like this one are now an important component of its marketing mix. There are 5 other such centers around the world.
For premium brands it's clearly critical that they are able to get their brand story out. Retail environments need to play more of a brand experience role and to engage the consumer in an education of the brand, in addition to selling product. While getting this balance right is always something of a challenge; creating dedicated brand experience environments, like Mercedes is doing, would seem to make sense, even for luxury brands that have always relied on retail alone.
Should Louis Vuitton open travel museums?
Should Rolex have mini watch-making factories?
Should Le Creuset open a dining club?
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In the early 1950's, when I was an impressionable teen, GM used to have annual traveling "autoramas". They would display the latest models with glitter and girls abounding, but the things that were really impressive were the concept car models and the historic displays. Sounds like that's what Mercedes is doing in a static location. <br> <br>These auto extravaganzas were experential marketing at its best, and though expensive to produce, mighty effective. They kept me a GM customer until I purchsed a Chevy X model in the late 1970's. Quality trumps nostalgia. <br> <br>Brands with heritage and prestige have an opportunity to differentiate with centers. Coke, Lego and Harley-Davidson have certainly taken advantage of their legacies to reenforce their brands with centers that attract visitors in quantities revalling amusement parks. <br> <br>Speaking of amusement parks, the World's Fairs of old were also great venues for forward-thinking companies to display their latest technologies and visions. At the last New York World Fair in the 1960's, IBM, my old employer, demonstrated voice recognition, linear programming applications and time-sharing systems. <br> <br>Economics may have dampened the enthusiasm for World's Fairs and traveling extravaganzas, but the experience centers of Merecedes and others continues an effective and time-honored tradition. <br> <br>