Mercedes-Benz Builds Online Brand World

Mercedez-Benz is trying to create a Web-based brand experience for visitors to its international site, launching a multimedia broadband “brand world” to accompany its product pages.

The separation between product details and brand-focused multimedia content was intended to make it easier for visitors with that goal to find information, while giving interested visitors access to more multimedia content, according to Lothar Korn, head of global advertising for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars.

“The new presentation, which has a strong audiovisual emphasis, enables us to present specific brand topics in greater multimedia detail,” Korn said in a statement. “It also allows people to experience more intensely the fascination of Mercedes-Benz.”

The new site, designed by German agency Scholz & Volkmer, features a virtual tour of the new Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Users can also view a multimedia presentation highlighting new developments in automotive technology, or a presentation of its latest models. Content is available in both English and German, and will be updated quarterly.

Visitors can also download music podcasts or a “mixed tape” of 15 free songs from independent artists in classical, jazz, pop and electronic genres that Mercedes-Benz updates every six to eight weeks.

Mercedes-Benz, like other DaimlerChrysler brands, has embraced the Web as a vehicle for its message. It regularly hands out “drive to Web” cards at events to drive leads to specific microsites, including one built in partnership with AOL Music.