LIVE… INSPIRE… ENGAGE… BELIEVE – OK!
Was I hearing the phone call correct? “Yes John you can take out a choice of vehicles onto our ‘Skidpan’ with pleasure”. It was Lee Camelio explaining to me why buyers of Mercedes vans can go through this experience at the annual Mercedes-Benz Van Experience event. Lee: “The closest most drivers ever get to a skid pan during their lifetime is probably on a wet roundabout or maybe a fuel spill on a sharp corner whilst out on the roads. The end result is the fact that a majority of us would not know what to do when such incidents occur. For ten days each year Mercedes-Benz runs an event for Light Commercial Van buyers and drivers to demonstrate not just the product but also the advantages of running MercedesBenz vehicles for either the fleet user or small company such as ours. It was a fantastic day and when you look and listen to the happy guys who attend you can understand why Mercedes Benz has a winning formula for success.
This annual MercedesBenz
Van Experience event is pretty unique in the fact that other commercial van manufacturers have similar gettogethers but they are certainly not as comprehensive. This exercise must work though as it will certainly take a huge chunk of budget from whichever marketing angle you look at it, be it sales or just a cost effective way of spreading the word. A group of around 200 invited people, including dealers, staff and customers, all with a vastly different range of driving skills and abilities attend.
SHOWCASE
Since its inception nearly ten years ago the event itself has remained pretty true to its original concept. Gather together as big a range of standard, modified and converted Mercedes-Benz light commercial vehicles together in one place to show off the range and then get guests driving as many vehicles during the day as possible, on a set range of different challenges. Each day starts with registration from 08.30am and includes a very tempting array of breakfast items to suit all tastes. This is followed by the opening presentation which takes place at 10.00am, and this is where the visitors are split up into more manageable smaller groups who are told to follow the lovely ladies carrying Red, Blue, Green and Yellow ‘Lollipops’. There were five ‘experiences’ planned and each takes about fifty minutes. As part of the ‘Red’ group I was treated first to the ‘This is your Life’ experience which took place on the skid pan and a wet stretch of cobbles to try out braking efficiency, using different tyres and pressures which also highlighted the vans in extreme situations . Even more revealing was the use of rival vans from other manufacturers in the same conditions. Then it was a demonstration showing the life-saving advantages of ESP. The violent swerving during this exercise is something I will be talking about for some time to come as it was so impressive. Lunch was then served, which was excellent with a good choice on the menu to suit all.
MORE FUN
It was then the Reversing Challenge, which highlights how good the new camera systems are, before we then were allowed to venture onto the 4x4 Off-Road course for more fun. It’s like Trials riding in a van is how I would describe it as I am sure many would agree, as we tackled deep water and extreme cross country in the four-wheel-drive special purpose vans. Last but not least was the ‘Driving to Success’ which was basically a fuel economy driving session. I managed to squeeze 74.3 MPG from the Vito I was in! For many people attending this event it will be the very first time they have encountered examples of all of these activities, whilst for others it served as a reminder of just how versatile Mercedes vans can be. No matter how experienced they might be, each and every one of the attendees will have picked up something new at the end of it. They will go away very happy and will spread the word to colleagues and friends about the day out they had. It all adds to the brand perception of Mercedes-Benz which, as non-LCV folk often forget, is not just a luxury car maker but the biggest manufacturer of light and heavy goods vehicles in the world.