Mercedes looks at kiosk approach to drive brand salience

Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz is adopting a kiosk approach at high footfall areas in key cities for promoting the brand through greater 'consumer engagement' as it aims at double-digit growth this year through a line-up of new launches.
"We believe in innovation which has been a key tenet of our consumer engagement. This year we will introduce some more unique consumer engagement initiatives and in the form of 'pop-up stores'.
"The first such store has already come up at the upmarket Blue Frog restaurant in central Mumbai and we will have six more this year," Mercedes-Benz India managing director and chief executive Roland Folger told PTI.

The other six stores will come up in Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Goa.
He said these stores are aimed at engaging consumers on a personal level and will come up at hip and happening places lounges, pubs, restaurants and cafes in key metros, the locations for which will be decided on the basis of consumer mapping and behavioural patterns.
Folger said network expansion remains key to the growth strategy and market expansion. "Our network expansion strategy is completely independent of this activity. We've plans to inaugurate 10 new outlets across markets in 2016, and have already opened two -- in Bhubaneswar and Pune -- in the first quarter taking total dealers to 83 in 40 cities."

He said the initial response to the first pop-up store was overwhelming with very high footfalls and enquiries.

On sales outlook, he said last year they made history, despite market disruptions, by selling over 13,500 units.
"We see a strong growth in the short to mid-term. But this can only be achieved with stable policies and growth environment. The fact that luxury car market is just 1.3 per cent is a silver lining.
"However, I think 2016 will be a mixed year with opportunities and challenges both," Folger said.
"We'll be aiming at a sustained double-digit growth in 2016 and our strong line-up of new launches (12 offerings) will help us achieve the goal," he said but did not quantify.

On the Supreme Court banning sale of high-end diesel cars in Delhi-NCR, he said this is a serious concern and but expressed confidence that a rational and balanced decision that not only takes care of the growing environmental issues but also creates a long-term roadmap for the industry would come up.
He also called for early introduction of BS VI norms and said his company is ready for new norms even now.
On sales impact of the SC ban, he said other centres more than enough compensated for the Delhi setback in the first quarter this year.
In Delhi a very strong petrol portfolio has also helped.

Also other dealers supported our Delhi NCR dealers to help meet the higher demand for petrol models.