Mercedes Benz Bus Days

On November 11–12, 2017, numerous guests from all over Europe attended the premiere at which the traditional Mercedes-Benz Bus Days (Mercedes-Benz Omnibustage or MOT) was relaunched at the Omnibus delivery center in Mannheim. In past years, the event had become a favorite industry meetup to which visitors also brought their families. Change Communication coordinated the relaunch of the Mercedes-Benz MOT with set-building specialists Artlife.

After completing the 2016 renovation of the area of the plant grounds for the public, Mercedes-Benz wanted to overhaul its format in 2017 and optimally integrate its Public Local Transit Symposium, which was previously a separate event. As Angela Frank, manager of Marketing Planning, Integration Management, Fairs and Events, put it, the task at hand was, “More brand, more product, more services. With this in mind, the fair setup needed to service two purposes – for two different target groups and event formats.”

“The challenge lay in handling the heterogeneous target groups and the complexity of the communication objectives. We wanted to orchestrate the event for Mercedes-Benz products and services in such a way that the experience for local bus entrepreneurs and their families was just as exciting as for representatives of an international professional industry association. To do this, we created a wide range of access points and opportunities for experiences for all communications themes. The differentiated experience addresses cognitive and emotional dimensions, in turn opening separate levels of identification,” explained Change Communication GmbH Managing Director Almuth Siemann.

And so the Frankfurt creatives developed the Mercedes-Benz BUSiness Days from the MOT. The motto “Experience today – Discover tomorrow” invited visitors to an emotional journey of discovery over around 2,600 sqm of space. The models Citaro hybrid, Tourismo, Future Bus with City Pilot and the City 45 sprinter bus and the all-around fleet services stood in the spotlight.  Presented for the first time, the brand OMNIplus On bundles all the digital service activities. Hofheim-based Artlife implemented the new customer contact areas which integrated the BUSiness Days on the Mercedes-Benz plant grounds in Mannheim. Likewise, the Mercedes-Benz Customer FORUM created a new format for the target audience of international public local transport customers in an upstream event.

Those responsible at Daimler Buses were also satisfied. “What we wanted was a new design with content that creatively pointed the way into the future. At the same time, we wanted all visitors to have a holistic, emotional experience with omnibuses in an authentic Mercedes-Benz brand world without the hustle and bustle of a fair. The new format succeeded in doing this,” said Harry Gottschalk, head of Marketing Communication at Daimler Buses. Angela Frank added, “The collaborative partnership between Change and Artlife was the deciding factor in achieving our goals.”