Whatever happened to ‘engineered like no other’?
My colleague Steve Cropley last week asked this about Mercedes-Benz’s erstwhile advertising strapline, which was first mentioned in promotional copy in 1956 (with ‘…in the world’ on the end) and which routinely accompanied the company’s publicity until 1995.
It was followed, if you remember, by ‘the best or nothing’, a more nothing than best phrase that still gets airtime today. It’s the title of a page on Mercedes’ US website at least, although it doesn’t highlight the end of any new adverts I’ve seen.
Today, online, where most adverts are viewed, Mercedes ads are mostly signed off only by the three-pointed star and a clickable link to a relevant web page. Sometimes there’s a different, model-appropriate slogan like the also forgettable ‘so AMG’.
There isn’t, then, an overarching single Mercedes message – one thing that you must associate with the brand every time you see it.
Maybe in a world where the model range and the selling of it have both changed so much and where old-school engineering sits behind, say, style or connectivity, Mercedes doesn’t think lasting consistency matters like it once did. It still shouts about engineering today, but mostly through its Formula 1 team.
The world’s two other best-known automotive practitioners of the slogan art aren’t yet ready to give them up.
BMW has toyed with a few different phrases but primarily retains the same ‘Freude am Fahren’ (‘sheer driving pleasure’) line it first used in 1965, adjusting it to ‘the ultimate driving machine’ for its two biggest English-speaking markets, the US and the UK, in 1972.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Well, in 1995 Mercedes cut £1billion from thier build quiality in order to boost profits and they knew it, so did the buyer and the used market prices when they started rusting prematurely; BMW went FWD, so the 'ultimate driving machine' slogan is no longer is relevant to the brand as a whole and I'm not sure that BMW want to use the slogan anymore in today's world; Audi/VAG really shouldn't be talking about 'progress through technology', when they failed to produce a decent diesel engine and instead used technology to circumvent progress.
How to face the challenges of concentration in the study hall? 2023.12.11Each of our days is filled with activities and tasks of various ways to increase focus, but if there is one thing these experiences have in common, it is focus. In today's busy and fast-paced world, we may face challenges of concentration in the study hall. But how can we manage these challenges and continue our work in the best possible way? The first step in dealing with concentration challenges is a deep understanding of their causes. Several factors may be involved in this equation. One of the important factors is the environment. The study hall in Isfahan may face various obstacles such as environmental sounds, too much or too little light, or even our internal disharmony. To solve these problems, we can use auxiliary tools such as noise-reducing headphones or changes in ambient light. Also, the process of mental preparation can have a great effect on increasing concentration. Deep breathing techniques, meditation, or even a little exercise before starting work can bring the mind into a relaxed state ready to focus. In balancing the environment, time management also plays an important role in improving concentration in Dr. Azin Gazer's boarding house.
‘You’ll believe a man can fly’. Not the damming conclusion of the Rover Metro’s 1 star Euro NCAP crash test review, but the tagline to the 1978 Richard Donner directed ‘Superman’. Matts right: The Ultimate Driving Machine is classic. Always returns to me. Utterly emphatic. The Ultimate Driving Machine. Believe. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. A man can fly.