Final Project: Competitive Analyses

The car that competes most with my Mercedes-Benz CLS550 is the Audi A7 Sedan.  Both are excellent vehicles and each has their own personal qualities that outweigh the other. “Most competing brands are of equal quality—that is, they are parity products or services.” Advertising by Design, Robin Land Page 2. I don’t think either one is doing an above average ad campaign.  Both vehicles showing the vehicle being drove through nature and really highlighting their sleek looks. The Benz does one up the Audi though by adding a storyline and showing off the Mercedes technology that could help save your life. “When we can relate to the story, we feel a kinship with the brand or group being advertised.” Advertising by Design, Robin Land Page 193. This is a little ironic because the A7 slogan is “lead by technology” but they don’t really show the advanced technology like the CS550. Then Mercedes is using “the best or nothing” when they should focus on entrepreneurs who have already created something but are striving for more. Focusing on this need for more could give Mercedes the more that they’re looking for. Over a short time their target market for the CLS can change to millennial entrepreneurs which are a strong growing market.  “According to Abraham Maslow, one of the founders of humanistic psychology, we have a hierarchy of needs that influence our behavior. Maslow arranged these needs into a hierarchical pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid are the basic (or physiological) needs, such as air, water, food, sex, sleep, etc. As you ascend the pyramid, physiological needs are followed by safety, love, and then esteem. Finally, at the pinnacle, we find self-actualization, which is defined as “the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming.” Advertising by Design, Robin Land Page 68.

Stepping away from the advertising side and looking into the specs of the vehicle, you might have a hard time deciding which is for you. The Benz is rocking a 4.6L Bi-Turbo V8 beating out the Audi’s engine in size, the Audi only having a supercharged Six-cylinder. Knowing this, you can probably assume which will get you the better gas mileage. Yeah the Audi wins with a combined of 24 mpg and the Benz getting only around 20 mpg due to that V8 engine. The Audi also takes the prize when looking at the price. Starting out you’re looking at just under $70k for the Audi and just over $86k for the Benz. Now which would you choose? I personally want the luxury of saying I roll around in a Benz. "Most often, two brands are compared for their functional benefits (our brand of nail polish makes your nails harder or our insurance company gets to the scene of the accident faster) or attributes (our burgers are broiled on an open flame while the competing brand is fried or our potato chips are unbroken contrasted to the broken chips of the leading brand or our organization treats animals more humanely)." Advertising by Design, Robin Land Page 112.