Building Architecture: The New Mercedes AMG-GT versus The New The report1 builds and examines the brand architecture of two – New Mercedes AMT GT and New Porsche 911 – in the automotive market. The two brands are chosen as the new launch of Mercedes AMT GT as the sportiest to give veritable competitor for the old bull Porsche 911. Both Mercedes and Porsche are among the most prestigious and valuable brands in the automobile market and each one a leader in its own way. This report will bring out the similarities and differences in the brand architectures of these two brands. Quite interestingly, 2015 was the best year in terms of sales for both the companies. While Mercedes had the highest record sales of 1,880,000 , Porsche also achieved its highest record sales of 189,849 cars. Brand Architecture

1 The report is based on the materials published on the following websites: 1. Forbes: The World’s Most Valuable Brands 2015 – www.forbes.com/powerful-brand/list; 2. www.mercedes-benz.com; 3. www.porsche.com; 4. www.jdpower.com/cars; JD Power & Associates Ratings 2016.

1. Brand Architecture of The New Mercedes AMG-GT

Brand Core / Essence -Heritage, Authentic, Innovative

Brand Personality- Pioneer in Luxury cars, Thoroughbred, Elegant, Symbol of Engineering Excellence, Sense of class and success.

Emotional Benefits - Prestige & exclusivity, Sense of accomplishment, Pride for family, Addictive

Product Benefits - Safety, Futuristic and eco- friendly, superfast speed on long distance, Performance, Lavishly equipped interiors, Customized: Handcrafted excellence: one man, one engine, Big Boot. Product Attributes - New AMG 4.0 litre biturbo engine with internally mounted turbochargers, front mid engine, High-end technology and advanced engineering in technical and non- technical interiors and exteriors.

2. Brand Architecture of The New Porsche 911

Brand Core / Essence - Fascination, Masterpiece in Sportscars

Brand Personality- Iconic, Inspirational, transparent, innovative ( from the fast tracks and of Porsche kind)

Emotional Benefits - Exclusivity, Timeless beauty ( today and as it was on day one), Fascination for generations

Product Benefits - Beautiful Sporty Design, Unique Infectuious engine sound, rev and performance, Low height and spacious cabin & friendly interiors, a for everyday use.

Product Attributes - Heritage of design, Compactness, Proportions and contours of motorsports precision), Vigorous Rear Engine,Light weight.

Brand Comparison

As we can see in the preceding exhibits while both the brands compete in the same market segment and aim to deliver the best of sporty car experience to consumers, they do have subtle differences on various components of the brand architecture. Mercedes brand focuses on heritage, authenticity and innovativeness; communicates personality as of a pioneer, being thoroughbred, elegance and sense of class; sells on the emotions of prestige & exclusivity and family price; promises on delivering safety and futuristic & eco-friendly orientation as product benefits and backs them up with new AMG 4 liter biturbo engine and handcrafted car. In comparision, Porsche highlights fascination and masterpiece in sports cars as its core brand; iconic, inspirational and transparency as its personality traits; harps on timeless beauty as its key emotional benefit along with exclusivity; sustains a beautiful sports car for everyday use as its product benefits and supports the same by heritage of a unique design as was in its first 911, unique sound, rev and best performance from its rear mounted engine and the light weight.

Similar yet subtly different, the two brands, corroborate that when world class beauties compete, differences are only in milimeters – so true for Mercedes and the Porsche. However, despite being pioneers of luxury cars in automobiles, established in 1886, Mercedes ( the first Mercedes was a racing car), in its pursuit of becoming the best world class car manufacturer, seemed to have somewhere lost its leadership position in the sports car market. So much so, that Porsche which sold its first car in 1948 i.e., 62 years later, is perceived by consumers as the leader in the sport car market, as also in JD Power ratings 2016. In terms of JD Power ratings, both the car brands were rated as: Mercedes (M) 3 on 5 and Porsche (P) 5 on 5 on Overall Quality; M 4 on 5 and P 5 on 5 on Performance & Designs; M 4on 5 and P 5 on 5 on Dependability; while on parameters such as Sales Satisfaction and Customer Service both received similar ratings of 5 on 5 and 3 on 5 respectively.

Brand Value As per Forbes 2015 The World’s Most Valuable Brands rankings, Mercedes was ranked at 24 with a brand value of $22.5 billion and a sales revenue of $106.6 billion; as against Porsche’s rank of 78 with brand value of $7billion and sales revenue of $ 21.9 billion. In other words, Porsche with approximately one-fifth of sales revenue commanded nearly a third of the brand value in comparison with Mercedes. Overall, while Mercedes has a global recognition of its brand as being prestigious and world class engineering in luxury cars, so far as sport car segment is concerned Porsche leads by sustaining its image of masterpiece in sports car, sustain the heritage of its design and marketing a beautiful sports car for everyday use. No wonder it is catching up on the brand value too and even made Mercedes to launch New AMG GT to compete against Porsche and gain back its market share and position.