As of late, you may have noticed somewhat of a decrease in the number of stories we publish and a somewhat sporadic nature of those that we do. After much debate, we felt compelled to tell you why, as we believe that you, the readers, deserve to know more about the workings and ideals of eMercedesBenz. It is, after all, because of your readership and support that eMercedesBenz exists.
Our story begins approximately three-and-a-half years ago, when eMercedesBenz was founded. Initially, our goal was simply to create a website that would allow those interested in Mercedes-Benz to follow the brand on a daily basis, utilizing a medium that at the time was far less prominent than it is today: the weblog. We built the site from scratch, using our limited knowledge of coding (hence, the lack of features when compared to other weblogs). We figured we’d first focus on gaining readers, and subsequently implement more user interactive features as the site grew. We quickly realized the error of our ways, however, when as the site gained more notoriety, we quickly became inundated with emails from readers who weren’t asking us to implement the features found on other blogs, but rather were asking questions about virtually all aspects of the brand. Did we have more information on an upcoming model; where could they buy a specific item mentioned on the site; did we have a brochure of a vintage pre-war Mercedes model, etc.
We soon realized that it wasn’t a more fully-featured blog that would be most beneficial to our readers, it was an outlet that gave them a voice – one to communicate with Mercedes; one to have their questions answered; and one where they could speak openly about any aspects of Mercedes-Benz that interested them. With that, our future vision for eMercedesBenz was born.
Our new goal was a straightforward one: create a hybrid medium that would blend features of a traditional weblog with an unprecedented level of social networking aspects. Think of it as your favorite blog, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Wikipedia all rolled into one. Our vision for eMercedesBenz was built on three key components:
1) It would be a site that first and foremost, focused on content. If you hate social networks and you’ve sworn never to use one, it wouldn’t matter, because we would continue publishing a wealth of articles pertaining to Mercedes-Benz on a daily basis, but to a much greater extent. Not only would be we bring you the latest news pertaining the company and its products, but any historical information you sought about any of the Mercedes models from the past 125 years would be at your disposal. Simply put, it would be the single greatest source of new and historical Mercedes-Benz information ever made available.
2) It would offer exclusive access to the brand. In other words, rather than having to wait until after a model’s launch to see what went into a new model’s development, you would have a behind-the-scenes look at the model’s development in real time. When a new model was released, you would have the ability to speak directly to the model’s designers, gaining a unique perspective into how and why they arrived at the finished product. When a new model was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, you’d have a backstage pass showing what into the making of the auto show display. In short, our goal was to highlight the hard work and talent of the many incredibly gifted people who play a part in creating each of the Mercedes models you drive, all of whom up until now remain nameless, while at the same time granting you never-before-seen access to the brand.
3) It would create a community environment that allowed direct communication between Mercedes-Benz, its customers, and potential customers. I could speak all day about the social features planned (I won’t, don’t worry), but our vision was this: we wanted to give you a voice. We wanted to give you the ability to create a unique identity (describe yourself, share videos, photos, etc.), and find other eMercedesBenz members that share similar interests. Let’s say you just bought a C63 AMG and had it tuned by RENNTech. Our goal was give you the ability to upload videos and photos of it under your unique eMercedesBenz account (and make them either public or private), join a group of other C63 AMG owners and/or RENNTech owners (or create your own group), talk about your C63 either in group discussions or with your private contacts… the list goes on. If you created a group (such as RENNTech for example), you could communicate directly with your members, inviting them to a day at the track, for example. In essence, we wanted to bring those interested Mercedes in any context together, so they could find others with similar interests and share their thoughts and questions with other like-minded individuals. Or maybe you’re not a Mercedes owner but had questions about a specific Mercedes model. You would then have had the ability to create an account and speak directly to thousands of other Mercedes owners, each of whom already owns the model, and each of whom have experience with the model on a daily basis. Personally, I’d take the recommendation of a thousand real-world owners over the recommendation by an editor at Motor Trend any day (sorry Motor Trend, we still love you). And of course, for those of you that have problems, suggestions or comments for Mercedes, you too would have the ability to communicate directly with the company to share them.
That, in a vastly abbreviated form, was our goal. In truth, our vision was a substantial one, and it’s one that relied on the help of Mercedes-Benz directly. Financially, it’s impossible to create a website of this nature without a substantial investment, and in the area of exclusive access to the brand, it’s something that’s impossible without the direct help of the company. Because of this, last year, we constructed a business plan and presented it to Mercedes, and a few months ago we met with representatives from Daimler and MBUSA in person to discuss it. Of course, the primary question that you might be wondering is “Would being sponsored directly by Mercedes detract from the integrity of our site?” Or, putting it another way, would the site be simply an elaborate marketing ploy? From our standpoint, the answer was no. As discussed, our vision relies on three key elements, one of which is a community of individuals interested in Mercedes-Benz. In our opinion, no matter what content we or anyone else publishes, there is nothing more influential than hearing the voice of hundreds of thousands of actual Mercedes owners. An example that comes to mind is Apple. I migrated entirely to Mac computers over five years ago, but it wasn’t an elaborate marketing campaign that made me do so. It was on the recommendation of a friend, who extolled Mac’s virtues to me. Since that time, I’ve recommended Macs to at least ten of my friends, all of whom have now made the switch. From a marketing standpoint, we believe there’s nothing more influential than the voice of actual customers, and eMercedesBenz would have given MB customers a direct voice. If anything, eMercedesBenz would have granted users a truly genuine view at the brand, as it would be this pulse of Mercedes owners that dictated how the brand was viewed. Content too, would remain unbiased (at least as unbiased as it currently is), as our goal was to present content from an informational standpoint, and allow those that view it to form their own opinions of it.
So how would ads have worked? Our goal was to eliminate traditional advertising (banner ads, skyscrapers, etc.) to as great of an extent as possible, and replace them with unobtrusive methods that directed you, our readers, to the corresponding official Mercedes-Benz pages. For example, we just brought you an article detailing the new E-Class Coupe. The only ads on that article page would have been a straightforward link that directed you to the MB page where you could build or price your own E-Class Coupe. In other words, for anyone who’s ever emailed us asking where they can purchase a vehicle, accessory, etc., every page would offer a direct link to do so, without bombarding you with any unnecessary marketing materials. Our goal wasn’t to offer a carefully planned multi-million marketing message via a banner ad in an attempt to convince you to buy a Mercedes, but rather to provide you with an unprecedented level of content pertaining to Mercedes-Benz, giving you a voice to discuss the brand and hear other MB owners voices, and most importantly, allowing you to then make your own, informed purchase decision.
It’s something that up until now hasn’t been done. It would have given you an honest look at Mercedes-Benz in a way that’s never before been presented, and just as importantly, it would have helped the company better adhere to the various virtues they consistently promote – quality, ingenuity, safety and engineering superiority. We wish we could say that Mercedes shared our passion of the project, but the truth is, they didn’t. There were various objections to the proposal, the majority of which we believe were inaccurate. Ultimately, however, we believe the basis of their objection can be summarized in a single word: complacency. Mercedes believes that if they already have you as a customer, it’s not worth the expenditure to keep you, due to the fact they’re already adept enough at doing so. They also believe that their current advertising approach is efficient enough at reaching new customers. In short, their belief is that a well designed ad is more effective than the voice of a hundred thousand customers. This is in stark contrast to our beliefs, however, which is why we felt it necessary to detail to a small degree our proposal. From our viewpoint, amid one of the worst economic climates in the past century, we strongly believe that it’s necessary for Mercedes to take a pioneering role in both reaching new customers and strengthening the relationship they have with their current customers. By listening to you, their customers (or potential customers) – hearing your thoughts and viewpoints – and providing an honest, unprecedented look inside the company, we believe Mercedes could have substantially improved their ability to meet your needs and attract new customers – something that as of late has been increasingly difficult to do.
Unfortunately, as noted, Mercedes failed to share our vision for the future of eMercedesBenz, which has required us to take a change of course in our vision for the future as well. Over the past month, we’ve begun work on a new version of eMercedesBenz, which despite not offering each of the various features above, will still offer more interactive components than the current version of our website. It’s this ongoing work that has resulted in somewhat of a slowdown in articles, but trust us: the end result will be a far better version of eMercedesBenz than the one you’ve grown accustomed to.
To each and every one of you that read our website, thank you for your support. We couldn’t do it without you, and we encourage you to stay tuned over the next couple months to see what’s in store for the future eMercedesBenz.
Thanks again.