How Mercedes-Benz Defined Class with Matthew Macfadyen and Roger Federer
In a Bond-esque display of pure class, Mercedes-Benz released its latest ad with Matthew Macfadyen and Roger Federer. In the spot, Matthew and Roger play on the 007 and sidekick dynamic as a futuristic and suave setting nods back to the car brand’s qualities, as well as the future of what’s to come.
Shot at a Budapest opera house and enhanced with visual effects, a narrative to carry the audience through the story and celebrity cameos, the global campaign is engaging with viewers from the US to China and everywhere in between. Solidifying the Mercedes brand as a tech luxury brand meant that the team on board had to consider the automotive roots, and innovative designs, enhancing this by building on the previous ‘Defining Class’ campaign.
To share more about the process, the campaign’s director Nina Holmgren speaks to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani, as well as Mercedes-Benz AG’s head of global communications and marketing Florent Canepa, team x's creative director Daniel Duhn, and Anorak’s executive producer Toni Jaschke.
LBB> Talk us through the ‘Defining Class’ concept and what Mercedes-Benz wanted to achieve with the campaign.
Florent> Mercedes-Benz is driven by visionary thinking and passion which enabled us to continuously develop and innovate the automobile. Since our invention 138 years ago, Mercedes-Benz has defined class with the most desirable cars in the world. It’s our pioneering spirit and the aim for the extraordinary, that drives the brand to always further shape ground-breaking technologies, unmistakable designs, and safe comfort. Nowadays, we experience our cars as an individual wellness area, a mobile office, a private movie theatre or a personal safe space.
We wanted to tell the story of how we (re)define a car with a campaign that invites audiences to a magical world filled with our iconic brand heritage, trailblazing innovations and a highly luxurious setting. The worldwide campaign is a follow up to our previous ‘Defining Class’ campaign that was displayed in OOH and on social media around the timing of the International Automobile Exhibition in Munich last year.
Daniel> The brief was super exciting and an enormous challenge. How can we position Mercedes-Benz as a tech luxury brand? Because here’s the thing: Automotive is undergoing a radical change. Today, a car manufacturer is as much a technology company as it is an engineering brand. Or, like we say in our voiceover: ‘It’s not about going from A to B anymore’.
LBB> From there, what was the starting point of making the spot come alive? Where did you begin? What were the most challenging elements of the campaign to get right?
Daniel> Me and my partner David Kaufmann had intense conversations with the creative leads Christopher Hoene and Marcell Francke, and Mercedes-Benz marketing creation lead Florent Canepa: ‘What’s the Creative Direction for this campaign?’; ‘How do we integrate technology and features?’; ‘What’s the level of abstraction?’; ‘How do we stand out?’.
We wanted to create a narrative that feels unique to the brand’s iconic history. Mercedes-Benz invented the car. They defined it if you will. Now they redefine what it means to drive a car. Just think of automated driving.
LBB> At what point did Matthew Macfadyen and Roger Federer come on board and how did you want to incorporate them within the story?
Florent> In the creative phase, of course, we jointly brainstormed about the perfect cast for this campaign. After a few iterations of the script, it was clear that we needed our main character to come along with a companion who adds dynamic, quirky interactions. And in this moment Roger Federer as our brand ambassador came into our mind.
For the presenter, we were looking for a sophisticated and charismatic protagonist who guides the viewer through our film. That’s where we thought of Matthew Macfadyen with his successful acting career and his outstanding personality. He embodied elegance and wit at the same time and was a perfect fit for our film.
LBB> In terms of the location, where was the film shot and what was the timeframe of the shoot?
Toni> At a very early stage, we started researching the most beautiful opera houses in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Hungary, because this was the key spot of this film – we all agreed that this needed to be a real opera house and not a mix of VFX and set build. At some point, we ended up in Hungary, because we really fell in love with the opera house in Budapest.
LBB> There are so many custom elements throughout the spot, highlighting the logos and features of Mercedes-Benz technology. How did you incorporate these elements into the spot?
Nina> As you can see, we did quite well hand in hand with our lovely production designer, David Lee. We always wanted to integrate the logo into our location and set builds and the goal was to feature the Mercedes-Benz technology in a very simple and integrated way, like the hyperscreens in the office or the spa-car.
LBB> Matthew Macfadyen’s narration underpins the whole spot, what was the process of writing the script? Was there any improvisation at all?
Daniel> To me the question, ‘What makes a car a car?’ was quite profound. At least for someone who’s into cars. It’s exciting to think about. That’s how we came up with the question ‘A car is a car is a… car?’. Once we had this, it was easy to connect the dots.
For us, it’s been about honouring the brand’s legacy. That’s why you see some of their most iconic products like a ‘79 G-Class or the 300SL. But it was more like an acknowledging nod to the past.
What we wanted to convey was: ‘OK, the car changes. Fine. But Mercedes-Benz will always be Mercedes-Benz’. In a way, it’s quite symbolic for the state of the world we live in, to be quite honest. Everything changes. And it can be scary. But in the context of this film, our answer doesn’t feel reactionary, but self-confident.
Florent> Of course, it was a delight to build this campaign with such an actor like Matthew. He immediately channelled the charisma of this quirky presenter. The more we progressed into filming the more we realised he was the perfect and obvious choice. His combination of sophistication and approachability really took the film to the next level, and the complicity and alchemy that sparked on set with Roger made them the perfect pair.
There were moments of improvisation even when it was scripted (the scene in the theatre for instance) and we had of course a lot of fun doing this all together under Nina’s fantastic direction. Matthew and Roger clearly define what makes a Mercedes a Mercedes.
Nina> When we knew that a great actor, like Matthew, would be the lead of this film, we of course discussed the script with him and especially his lines and developed it with him together on set. A little bit of improvisation is a gift, especially if you can work with someone like him on set.
LBB> In terms of Roger Federer being behind the scenes of this operation, what was the story behind that? Can you expand on the Bond-style storyline?
Nina> I always liked introducing the idea of potentially giving our presenter a sidekick, like Q to Bond or Albert to Batman. He’s only in it for a couple of moments. An incredibly knowledgeable guy who knows his way around. The man at the control panel. When we heard that Roger became an option, which was, to be honest, not planned from the beginning, he completed our Bond-vision perfectly.
Daniel> Actually, Nina and I spoke about the James Bond vibe right on our first call. It was one of the most fun parts of seeing them come alive really.
LBB> The visuals are all very cohesive when it comes to the colour palette, with lots of muted colours and neutrals. How does this play into the ‘Defining Class’ concept?
Nina> I always saw it as a majestic opera house. Multiple spaces and a stunning exterior. Heritage vs. modern, and the opera setting as the perfect backdrop to provide a sense of luxury and history. We focused on traditional colour palettes and went for a clean and elegant approach to showcase the compelling imagery without overcomplicating the storytelling. Always the blue hour moody atmosphere in mind, because the show is about to start. Thanks to Oliver Millar for creating his little magic here.
LBB> How has the audience responded to the spot so far?
Florent> The campaign is still running globally and we are very happy with the feedback we have received so far. The audience responded very positively to the mix of style and humour that perfectly fits the brand. It was also quite stunning to see how relevant it was wherever you are in the world, from the US to China.
LBB> What was the most rewarding part of seeing the final spot?
Florent> Seeing all the pieces coming together is indescribable, so emotionally overwhelming! Especially since ‘Defining Class’ is one of my first campaigns for Mercedes-Benz. It’s such a satisfying confirmation that the decisions about the creative idea and putting the perfect team together were right to make this result happen and a success!
Daniel> This project was a long journey. Like really long. Seeing it now on a global scale is massive. It was one of the very first meetings we had with Florent when he took the job at Mercedes-Benz. It’s our second collaboration with Nina and ANORAK. There’s been a tremendous amount of teamwork involved and that’s always rewarding.
