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“Be bold for change” is the motto of this year’s International Women’s Day. The same firm resolve was what drove the women from the founding years of the brand at the end of the 19th century. Self-confident and responsible, they were pioneers of automobility, successfully fighting against resistance from within society. The brand name can be traced back to two women: Mercedes Jelinek, daughter of an Austrian businessman who launched the sale of Daimler vehicles in 1898, and Bertha Benz, who undertook the first long-distance journey in the early days of the car. With its She’s Mercedes initiative, Mercedes-Benz is bringing the needs of women even more sharply into focus.
“Women are the fastest-growing and most influential consumer group in the world,” says Kerstin Heiligenstetter, Head of the She’s Mercedes initiative, which was launched in September 2015. “Our aim is to respond in a holistic manner to the wishes and needs of women – from sales to communications to services. In the coming years, our aim is to establish Mercedes-Benz as the most attractive premium car brand in the world for women and to significantly increase the proportion of female customers.”
The initiative includes the training of sales employees, more female sales staff, the development of new after-sales services and tailored mobility services. For example, Blacklane, a chauffeur service in which Daimler AG has held a stake since 2003, is very popular with businesswomen around the world. The professional driver service with different Mercedes-Benz vehicles is available in over 200 cities worldwide.
The possibility for targeted communication with and between women is provided by the inspiration platform She’s Mercedes. With global events and networking offers, She’s Mercedes invites a regular exchange of views and information. In the magazine of the same name and the She’s Mercedes network, interesting women from different fields and sectors give insights into their life-worlds and invite a dialogue. It is hoped that success stories from the professional and personal sphere will inspire others to make their own way.
The fourth edition of the She’s Mercedes magazine comes out in April with a circulation of 170,000 in German and English. The various articles are about strong women who make things happen at Mercedes-Benz; today and in future.
The response to the initiative has been tremendous: around 5000 women have already taken part in She’s Mercedes events all over the world. There is a great deal of interest especially in China and the Middle East. China last year played host to ten events with a variety of emphases designed to strengthen exchange within the community. In the Middle East, She’s Mercedes activities focus on events and social media activities, the aim being to make direct contact with the women living there and to offer them an impressive premium brand experience.
To celebrate the 2017 International Women’s Day, She’s Mercedes has published a homage to female energy and solidarity. The clip “The Female Bond” with lead actress Yuna portrays the vision of a utopian community that celebrates diversity and unity with a hint of charm. A self-taught musician from Los Angeles, USA, with Malaysian roots, Yuna thanks her breakthrough to, among other things, her collaboration with music star Pharrell Williams in 2012. With 1.9 million Facebook fans, 1.77 million followers on Twitter and 431,000 on Instagram, the expressive singer has firmly established herself as a social media star: http://www.yunamusic.com. The video “The Female Bond” with Yuna can be viewed on Mercedes-Benz YouTube: http://mb4.me/The_Female_Bond_EN.
Daimler has set itself the goal of raising the proportion of women in management positions to 20 percent by 2020. The percentage has steadily grown in the past years and currently stands at over 15 percent. With Renata Jungo Brüngger and Britta Seeger, Daimler has two women on its Board of Management, corresponding to a female percentage of 25 percent. Diversity management has been firmly anchored in the corporate strategy since 2005 and makes a decisive contribution to the company’s success. Daimler attaches importance to a diverse workforce and harnesses different experiences, perspectives and skills. Active diversity management includes various qualification opportunities, workshops and events especially for women yet also targeted at both genders as well as several mentoring programmes.
Right from the outset, women were part of the success story of mobility at Mercedes-Benz and play a fundamental role in the further development of the brand – as researchers, developers, engineers and not least as discerning customers with individual wishes.
“She’s Mercedes is the first brand initiative to support modern women in their professional and personal lives. I am delighted by the response and the enthusiastic involvement of thousands of women in over 20 markets. This shows that we are on the right track with the initiative,” concludes Kerstin Heiligenstetter. “This year, we intend to further our initiative particularly through international dialogue and to develop it on selected convention platforms. It is something I am very much looking forward to.”
About “She’s Mercedes”
“She’s Mercedes” is an initiative in which Mercedes-Benz has been addressing women in a targeted manner as part of its “Best Customer Experience” strategy since 2015. The aim is to establish the brand with the star as the most attractive premium automotive brand for women and to increase the proportion of female customers by 2020. With the inspiration platform She’s Mercedes, MercedesBenz is entering into a more intensive dialogue with women and wants to considerably increase the relevance of the brand for this target group. The holistic initiative encompasses exclusive networking events both on existing and on new Mercedes-Benz platforms, a website and online community (www.mercedes.me/she) plus a magazine. In addition to this, Mercedes-Benz aims to use new services and mobility offers to address the specific mobility needs of women.
Courtesy: Mercedes-Benz
You can also watch the film, The Female Bond, on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/autoreportafrica/
