I was drawn to the Mercedes Benz #GLApacked campaign by an article in AdWeek titled Mercedes Generated 54% More Traffic by Running Ads on 2 Major Social Sites. The gist of the article is that this summer, Mercedes ran a branding campaign across Facebook and Instagram simultaneously, then used a direct response Facebook ad campaign to drive traffic to it’s website. Mercedes claims that it’s the first brand to simultaneously run Instagram & Facebook promos, and based on these results, it likely won’t be the last.
I have to admit that while I’m not drawn to Mercedes as a brand that I would be interested in buying, I really love the #GLApacked campaign. Basically, what Mercedes did is ask a bunch of influencers to take artsy photos of the items that they would pack for a vacation, on a 54″ by 45″ GLA trunk mat. While the layouts submitted weren’t exactly realistic, they were cute and creative, and I admit that I spent way too much time looking through them.
According to Mercedes, this campaign was intended to capture a younger generation of car buyers, and I think it’s succeeded. By offering the campaign across several social media outlets, Mercedes provided ample opportunity for users to submit content, and to share content that they liked. The campaign’s focus on packing the items for “your ideal road trip” allowed users to submit an image that really showed off their individual style – something that definitely appeals to millennials. Overall, I think this campaign was very effective at integrating Facebook and Instagram, as well as Twitter and Mercedes Benz’ #GLApacked website.