ABOUT

Acquired by Farécla Products Limited in 2008, the famous MER car care brand was taken on as a premium quality product with huge potential for growth; and it was the company’s newly appointed Business and Retail Brand Manager’s challenge to realise this potential by re-establishing MER as a volume seller at the premium end of its category. Having historically traded off its reputation as a fantastic product, the new marketing team were convinced that whilst MER was rightly premium priced, it was not premium positioned, packaged or promoted. MER had effectively begun to punch well below its weight.

The team approached WDA in May 2012, with a brief to re-capture market share, whilst still retaining the loyalty of the brand’s existing customer base. Due to the length of time MER had effectively stood still, WDA proposed that an evolutionary approach would not go far enough since MER was essentially being perceived as an old fashioned brand which had lost relevance amongst the new audience who saw it as an over priced commodity product – not a desirable brand. We proposed that MER needed a new market positioning and whole new brand visual identity to stand any chance of re-capturing market share and achieving the stated commercial objectives. Our vision was to relaunch MER, giving the brand a new relevance, visibility and credibility with the consumer; and critically to set MER apart – and above – both the established and new brands entering the market place with newer product, stronger marketing and better packs. We suggested this could be achieved without alienating the existing customer base, and moreover would allow us to appeal to a whole new, bigger audience.


Route to mind

WDA proposed that car care products are purchased as part of a lifestyle enhancement, meaning that Mer aren’t really selling car care products, they’re selling a shiny car, personal pride and an investment protection – the product experience NOT the product itself, although of course the product still had to perform and meet customer expectations. With lots of competition in the category (especially on the shelves of main retailer Halfords) WDA’s goal was to create an emotive and desirable positioning for MER; one which was not being exploited by the competition and which MER could claim and own.

In-depth market research uncovered a whole MER back story waiting to be told, rooted in the brands German origins, and its inventor Franz Billich. As the basis of a positioning this discovery was key since no other brand was using what was clearly a very strong driver within other parts of the Automotive market. Championed by aspirational premium car brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen, German manufacturing has long been revered globally for automotive engineering excellence through the appliance of technology, with traits of the German people perceived to be clinical, meticulous, considered and thorough. WDA proposed that we could elevate the premium status of MER by leveraging these things through the technical performance benefits of the product and appeal directly to the ‘inner perfectionist’ of those consumers looking for cleaning excellence.

The resultant ‘Auto shine technologie’ German positioning was complimented by a whole new brand visual identity and a full suite of new pack designs – all created by WDA. The initial creative was extensively tested by Farecla who commissioned Park Lane Research to conduct a series of consumer workshops in London. The results were fantastic, with the packs being very well received amongst a wide array of different groups and scoring highly on a multitude of criteria. Especially encouraging was how ‘new MER’ fared against the existing competition, with many now putting MER ahead of much more expensive brands – basically a complete reversal of value perception.


Route to market

Satisfied that the radical rebrand we had proposed was the solution they were looking for, Farecla gave WDA the go-ahead to take all packaging into production, and create brand blocked retail display systems for Halfords. At the same time we began to work on the promotional campaign and launch strategy. The final integrated campaign will be rolled out during 2013 consisting of on and offline trade and consumer advertising, video virals, eCrm, product literature, and a new online home for MER The 2013 campaign drive is fully supported by social media activities and an extensive PR programme. New MER will also be well represented at key events throughout the year.

ROI – Return on Idea

As with all WDA projects, success is measured in commercial results, and whilst still very early days for NEW MER, initial signs are very encouraging, with massively positive feedback from the trade retailers and distributors, consumer and press gathering momentum as we head towards the critical Easter period which traditionally sees the first sales spike of the year. MER now competes at brand level rather than a product level as before. As such WDA believe to have created a platform to directly drive sales, capture market share and put MER firmly back on the ed uploads