What have Mercedes Vitos got to do with Mountain Biking?

Jun 16
09:29

2011

Barry Summers

Barry Summers

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There are a lot of clever people in advertising. Ask me what to do to help to sell a load of vans and I would never think of getting ‘down with the kids’ involved with a load of mountain bike racers. Selling a new type of sweet, sickly drink yes, Mercedes Vito vans, no.a[rel~='nofollow']{outline:.14em dotted red !important;outline-offset:.2em;}a[rel~='nofollow'] > img{outline:thin dotted red !important;outline-offset:.2em;}

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There are a lot of clever people in advertising.  Ask me what to do to help to sell a load of vans and I would never think of getting ‘down with the kids’ involved with a load of mountain bike racers.  Selling a new type of sweet, What have Mercedes Vitos got to do with Mountain Biking?  Articles sickly drink yes, Mercedes Vito vans, no.

The ad people aren’t daft, but maybe you could accuse them of putting their own self-interest first by inventing these wacky campaigns, in so doing lining the pockets of their own Oswald Boateng suits.  But the people who run Mercedes Benz van division are no fools in emperor’s clothes (at least I hope they’re not).  They have to justify what they spend on marketing and they have to sell vans at a profit.  I assume therefore that they ‘get it’.  

I assume it is an ‘aspirational approach’ we all want to be like the trendy mountain bikers. If I am an 18 stone builder and need a van for work, why not buy a Mercedes Vito that makes me feel like a lithe mountain biker touring Europe with a group of foxy roadies?

Time will tell of the approach has worked, at the moment, Mercedes Benz is underperforming compared to their own historical standards, their registrations are 9% down on last year in a market that is currently 26% up on last year. 

Will the sponsorship of the Mountain bikers and the production of a mountain bike game App for the iPhone turn this situation around?  I hope so; otherwise the Oswald Boateng suit will be needed to hide the Emperor's shame.

 

The Mercedes Vito van is a great van that can suit for any use, whether it is for transporting goods by a logistics company or for a paint and decorator to hold all there paint and brushes while on the job. If you go out on the streets and look for handy men, builders, plumbers, electricians and ask them what there favourite van is, the majority of them would say the Vito, that is if they have drove this van before. You can quite easily find cheap Mercedes Vito vans for sale online, just simply go to Google and search for vans for sale, you will then find plenty of websites offering used vans or brand new vans, but seen as the van will most probably get damaged by tools within the van you might as well purchase a used van, as there a lot cheap than new vans..

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