Mercedes-Benz USA Shares Owner Stories of Survival and Perspective

MONTVALE, N.J., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven stories, literally life-changing, appear today as short films on MBUSA.com, the web site for Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA).  The unscripted accounts told by real customers are the byproduct of a collaboration between MBUSA's full-service marketing agency Merkley + Partners and its digital marketing agency Razorfish to creatively express one of the key features that sets Mercedes-Benz apart in the minds of many of its customers:  the ability of a Mercedes-Benz to protect its occupants when they are most vulnerable.

The common threads running through all the stories are phrases like:

• "I can't believe we walked away"
• "The fireman told me 'if you can live through that then I want my wife driving that car'"
• "I truly believe I owe that car my life and (my daughter's) life."
• "I decided I would never drive another car unless it was a Mercedes.  The police told me I would have been dead in any other car."
• "The car absorbed all the force.  It saved our lives."  
• "I feel so strongly about it – it's not just a pretty car – it will save your life."
• "Everyone told me that it was our car that saved us - both insurance companies, the police, the people in the ambulance.  That specific car is the reason we walked away."
• "We've always been very loyal Mercedes customers, and after this accident we will never ever buy another brand of car."  

Steve Cannon, vice president of marketing for MBUSA says, "We literally have hundreds and hundreds of these experiences sent to us by our customers and we all agreed that we had to find a way to bring these experiences to life and share the stories of survival and perspective.  We wanted the stories to be powerful but also authentic and, most of all, we wanted them to share the perspective that these people walked away with."

The campaign, known as "Impact," which was shot by documentary filmmaker Henry Corra, is accessible via the MBUSA.com home page or directly at (www.MBUSA.com/Impact) beginning today.  Once on the site, viewers can roll over the images to bring up the owners and then click to view their stories.   Each feature story includes additional content that brings the owners, their families and their extraordinary circumstances to life.   Three of the films were previewed on the Mercedes-Benz brand Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mercedesbenzusa) where they sparked a stream of similar experiences from other owners.

In this vein, the MBUSA.com/Impact site features a "call to users" which invites other owners to submit their own Mercedes-Benz story of survival or newfound perspective.  Select owner-generated stories will be featured on a weekly basis at the MBUSA Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mercedesbenzusa).  Versions of the site are also available for iPad and iPhone.

About Mercedes-Benz USA

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and customer service for all Mercedes-Benz and Maybach products in the United States.  MBUSA offers drivers the most diverse line-up in the luxury segment with 12 model lines ranging from the sporty C-Class to the flagship S-Class sedans and the SLS AMG supercar.  

MBUSA is also responsible for the distribution, marketing and customer service of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Vans in the US.  More information on MBUSA and its products can be found at www.mbusa.com and www.mbsprinterusa.com.

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SOURCE Mercedes-Benz USA