Mercedes-Benz 2030

MERCEDES-BENZ 2030 FINAL REPORT

Group Pinpoint Kuan-ling Tseng 4252233 Erik Herr 4255461 Youge Xiao 4257219 Ricky Posthoorn 4019024 Rashna Mourillon 1260111

Final Report

Group Pinpoint

Mercedes-Benz 2030

CONTENTS 1. City in 2030 2. Target Customer 3. Shift Brand Values 4. Customer Journey 5. Business Model 6. Appendix

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The future autonomous car rental system is designed by our team, Pinpoint. Our team gave the name of the future autonomous car as “E-Benz”, and the whole car rental system is called “the Move”. At the beginning of the report, the future city concept, the target customer of “the Move” system, and the new brand values of Mercedes are introduced. Second, the concept of “the Move” and the E-Benz are explained. At the end of the report, marketing strategies and business model of “the Move” are mentioned.

Video Address: https://vimeo.com/58456690

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1. CITY IN 2030 There are assumptions of the future city in Europe in 2030. Much has changed in the city center since nonautonomous cars are no longer allowed. Because of the government focus to promote a more sustainable environment and the awareness of the people in the city, the air is cleaner and the streets are safer. Pedestrians, bicycles and other personal open vehicles have more space now. Urban gardening has made its way to the rooftops. The connected cars in the Move system drive and park themselves and use as little space as possible because they pick their own routes and try to avoid traffic jams. Parking underground avoids parked cars in the street image.

Figure 1-1, Top view of city center in 2030

Figure 1-2, Street view of city center in 2030

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Mercedes-Benz 2030

2. TARGET CUSTOMER The target customers of “the Move� system are digital traveler nomads who are business people that frequently travel to different-unknown urban destinations by using different ways of transportation. These people balance four important aspects which are: work, traveling, health and relaxation (see figure 2-1). When they are working, every second counts. They live a busy and a pressure life, most of the time they push themselves to limit without caring their own bodies.

In spite of devoting themselves to work, these digital traveler nomads love to eat healthy food and exercise. They like to be triggered by novel things.

This target market group can be divided into business people of the age around thirty to forty and fifty to sixty years old. The difference between these age groups is their attitude toward life. The younger generations are more likely to try new things.

Figure 2-1, Imageboard of target customer

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3. SHIFT BRAND VALUES The picture on the left side of diagram one shows the brand positioning of the different car brands. Based on our market research, Mercedes-Benz gave people a sense of humility and heritage. Mercedes not only has its own glorious tradition but also is reliable. This characteristic reflects on Mercedes’ drivers. Those Mercedes drivers tend to have a more stable personality. On the contrary, the brand images of the two main competitors of Mercedes, AUDI and BMW, are aggressive and more technological leading. The drivers of these two brands enjoy conquering the road, and they like to show off. Therefore, targeting themselves on the right market is the most important task for these car brands.

Figure 3-1, Brand Positioning

However, by observing the product portfolio and marketing strategies, the brand image of Mercedes is shifting toward the brand images of AUDI and BMW now. Mercedes is boasting the aggressive design and technology instead of using a more heritage-humble approach by providing its customer with the latest technology and elegant design. At this moment they are moving more towards the aggressive-technology leading approach to be able to gain the market share. But this strategy will not gain lots of market share because BMW and AUDI have already implanted the strong images in customers’ minds. The worst of all, Mercedes will lose its original clients. Hence, Mercedes-Benz should go back to its heritage-humble approach by the strategy in 2030.

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The strategy is to introduce healthy and balanced lifestyle to its clients. The reason of choosing this core strategy is that most of the clients of Mercedes live a busy life. They probably have no time to take care of themselves. By applying the strategy focused on maintaining the healthy and balanced lifestyle of the clients, the brand value of Mercedes-Benz will be authentic, care, structure. Figure 3-3 shows the new brand value of Mercedes.

Figure 3-2, Old brand value

Figure 3-3, New brand value

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4. COUSTOMER JOURNEY Anna is a business traveller or a so called business nomad. She is always on the go and very busy. She loves her work, but knows the downsides of it all to well. A couple of years ago she was on the verge of burnout and still working 60 hours every week. Her environment enabled her to work at every part of her day. Fortunately her company saw it just in time and got “the Move� contract for her. She is doing much better now and is still working as hard as possible.

Figure 4-1, Introducing the user

To accomplish this, Mercedes has emphasized other values in the brand. Instead of focusing on Responsibility, Fascination and Perfection they thought of a way to make Anna relaxed during all of her travels. The change in emphasis resulted in the values Authentic, Care and Structure. This focus also detached MercedesBenz from its very similar competitors Audi and BMW. It also embraced the values that Mercedes makes what they are: An authentic and trustworthy brand.

The first touch point of the brand Mercedes is found with the bond. The Bond is a health tracking device provided by Mercedes. You carry it with you all the time and it is both a status symbol and your little personal helper. It tracks your heart rate, weight, meals, fitness, relaxation and even sleeping time. It does this with several sensors. It has GPS, a passive camera that records your habits, a microphone and speaker. It charges wirelessly and synchronizes data of your mobile device. It is also possible to give the E-Benz commands from a remote location. If you are in danger an employee of Mercedes is informed and he or she takes a decision on how to proceed. Off course it is available in many shapes and manifestations and can even be built in existing accessories.

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Figure 4-2, Introducing the bond

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Figure 4-3, Accompanying App on the handset

Figure 4-4, Recognize appointment on user’s schedule

Anna gets a Mercedes Bond from her company and tries it on. With the accompanying App she can synchronize all of her personal information to the car. The system automatically recognizes that she has an appointment abroad and can book a car by this system in advance.

The E-Benz itself is a 4 wheel electric car with two seats and a table. It has a foldaway steering wheel and storage space for two bags and the E-Bike. The seats can be positioned however required and the user will not get carsick because of counter movements. The car has a lot of new technological features. The most radical ones are: autonomous driving, recharging the batteries while driving, augmented reality windows and the cars artificial intelligence.

First of are the augmented reality windows. They are not a content producing device meaning that you should not for example try to create a new presentation on it. They are designed specifically for giving you the right information at the right time. When the users in the car are talking about new restaurants this is what the car will display. When the user is idle and looks bored the car can entertain the user by telling about the surroundings and showing places to visit.

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To make the car feel more like its own personality, even when you are driving multiple physical cars, it adapts slowly to its user. Anna has arrived in the city we have just seen. She is welcomed by the car as she gets in.

Right now the car displays her health status and recommendations. Off course, Anna can also speak back to the car. In this case she tells it to go to her hotel.

Figure 4-5, Welcoming screen of E-Benz

After the flight Anna is quite tired and wants to relax. As she starts to relax in the chair the windows gradually darken and the sound of the car driving slowly fades. Sometime before she arrives the car gradually changes back. If Anna has to spend some more time in the E-Benz it will automatically give her suggestions on how to spend her time. Other ways of relaxing are: the massage chairs, looking or listening to media, sound and lighting therapy and looking at the outside scenery moving by.

Figure 4-6, Relaxing mode of E-Benz

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The car also holds an E-Bike. It is a very compact unicycle with an electric motor to support the user when cycling long distances. Because of the two-way tires the unicycle can go both forwards and sideways. This system makes cycling through busy cities faster and more convenient.

When the user goes for a run the E-Benz has several extra features. It can actively follow you around so you can’t get lost. To accomplish this, it tracks your location through the Bond. It can also give suggestions on nice places to go running or even challenges you by giving information about track times of your co-workers.

After Anna drops off her bags in the hotel room she wants to exercise outside. Instead of running she is taking the Mercedes E-Bike. Just before she starts cycling she presses a button on the bracelet. When she is done the E-Benz is already waiting for her nearby. She gets in the car, drives back to the hotel and the car already picked up a light lunch which was kept warm while the car was waiting.

Figure 4-7, Light lunch in the car

The Move can also provide restaurant, hotel, spa or other entertainment options. Mercedes-Benz has a contract with several well-known establishments for the user to make reservations.

Often even for the same day. This means that you can make a reservation at a hip restaurant just after an afternoon meeting with a client to make sure you close the deal over dinner.

E-Benz customers can give these services ratings and the system makes sure that the user only gets the reviews that apply to them. Before booking a seat in a restaurant it is possible to PreTaste the menu. To do so the user just puts his or her finger on the device and then puts it in their mouth.

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Figure 4-8, Places provided by “the Move�

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Figure 4-9, Restaurant Recommendation

Figure 4-10, Premium Reservation

Figure 4-11, Pre-taste in E-Benz

After a fruitful meeting Anna decides to close the deal over dinner. She and the client get into the car and the car suggests some nice restaurants. The recommendations are based on both the situation and the nutritional needs of Anna’s body after sporting. For this occasion she wants to secure the client and picks out an established restaurant that has been rated well by her colleagues. First she opens up the menu and PreTastes one of the dishes. The PreTaste system is integrated in the car and can give a sample of what the food tastes like. The user simply swipes his finger over the device and puts it in his or her mouth. Anna is very satisfied with the taste and tells the car to make a reservation as a Mercedes membership.

In case of an accident the E-Benz will do anything in its power to prevent the user from harm. This includes dynamic braking, dynamic denting, moving the chair around in the car and restraining the passenger when needed. When the user is injured it will call the authorities automatically and give its precise location and severity of the incident. It can also provide the police with footage of the crash and people involved. The bracelet helps the ambulance staff to identify the victim and shares his or her medical status and history. If the ambulance staff wants to see or talk to the user before arrival the bracelet will set up a connection that will enables video calling.

Figure 4-12, E-Benz Protection in an accident

As we have seen the new Move system can help Anna out with a lot of things. It keeps track of your health through the Bond and helps you in making the right decisions to support it. It can look for the best restaurants, nice sites in the city, help you train your body and focus and relax your mind. E-Benz. It’s not just a business car. It’s a way of healthy living.

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5. BUSINESS MODEL The business model behind the Move can be divided in three parts: -The Launch -The Cash flow -The End-of-use These three parts will be further discussed in this chapter.

5.1 The Launch In 2030, Mercedes will implement the move in the big business cities of Europe (see figure 5-1). To promote the move, Mercedes would first introduce it at an “exclusive launch event” which will be held in Germany and England, the two countries which had more cities where the move would be implemented. This event would be for CEO’s of fortune 500 companies, which will be the future clients of the move. Two months before the launch, these CEO’s would receive an invitation, which would be personally delivered by a sales representative of Mercedes. This invitation will contain a virtual video showing a glimpse of the values their company will benefit from the move. The CEO’s who were invited would be picked up by the E-Benz, which will give them the chance to be the first ones to use the move. During the party the move would be showcased and the CEO’s would get the chance to pre-order. Based on these pre-order contracts the E-Benz would be manufactured and integrated in big cities, where the Move would be launched.

Figure 5-1-1, The cities where “The Move” would be implemented

“The Move” Launch Event Amsterdam Barcelona Berlin Birmingham Brussels Frankfurt Hamburg

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London Madrid Manchester Milan Munich Paris Rotterdam

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5.2 The Cash Flow

Figure 5-2-1, The major cash inflow of “The Move”

Mercedes get its major cash inflow of the move from yearly contract with the client’s companies. The contract includes the cities that the companies select, and it covers all the basic services of the move (see figure 5-2-1).

The basic services include the parking and charging fees of the E-Benz, the use of the internet either for work or personal and bond. The move also provides a premium service which includes the possibility to make reservations at a famous restaurant. Within this premium service there is also a premium membership service which lets the client to work out at premium fitness centers and order movies/music to watch in the E-Benz.

When the client should use this membership services they should pay an extra fee directly to the providers.

Figure 5-2-2, The major cash outflow of “The Move”

The cash outflow of Mercedes can be divided into six aspects from the most expensive one to the least (see figure 5-2-2). First, the fee of maintaining the move is the highest, this is due to the fact that car needs to stay in exclusive condition. Second, Mercedes needs to pay the city hall of each of the cities where the move is being implemented to use the infrastructure in those cities. Third, are the development costs, the technologies which would be embedded in the E-Benz will be developed in the future 20 years, leads to that the development cost of the E-Benz will not be too high.

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Fourth, Mercedes needs to pay for the parking space and charging of the E-Benz. Fifth, Mercedes will outsource the software technology to “cloud service companies”. Sixth, is the small fee Mercedes needs to pay enterprises to provide its clients with the premium services and results in a valuable experience. These enterprises could be famous restaurants, fitness center, and E-Benz entertainment providers. This last aspect is also part of the core value of the move, which want its clients to live a healthy and balanced life. This core value of the move make Mercedes stand out from the other rental car system providers. By focusing on the move’s core value, Mercedes can also successfully attract the companies to use the Move, because a healthy and balanced employee is the most important human resource for the company.

5.3 The End-of-use Mercedes uses natural raw materials which are 100 % recyclable to produce the E-Benz. This way at the “end-life” of the E-Benz, a huge part of it can be recycled and the rest can be sold to, for example, famous artists, who might use these parts to create exclusive art. This money which Mercedes receives will be donated to charities. This way Mercedes strengthen its brand value care, by caring for the environment as well as the community.

The E-Benz

100% Recyclable Figure 5-3-1, The end-of-use cycle

5.4 The Unique Selling Point The unique selling point of Mercedes would be its focus on a healthy and balanced life. Achieving this vision is only possible through the collaboration with the external partners. Helping clients living a healthy and balanced life not only benefits the clients but also attract the companies. Having an employee who is constantly in a good condition is the main attractiveness for companies in choosing Mercedes over competitors.

Figure 5-4-1, The unigue selling point

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Mercedes-Benz 2030

APPENDIX - WORKING PROCEDURE

1. Brainsorming about key topics

2. Define target users and new brand value

3. Design future scenarios

4. Design customer journey

5. Design storyboard of the film

6. Finalize details

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Final Report

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Mercedes-Benz 2030

THANK YOU Group Pinpoint Kuan-ling Tseng 4252233 Erik Herr 4255461 Youge Xiao 4257219 Ricky Posthoorn 4019024 Rashna Mourillon 1260111

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