Mercedes and the Relaunch of Maybach: Reviving a Heritage Automobile Brand

Anat   Keinan; Klaus  Heine; Marie-Cecile  Cervellon; Sandrine  Crener

Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2019

Mercedes and the Relaunch of Maybach: Reviving a Heritage Automobile Brand

by Anat Keinan, Klaus Heine, Marie-Cecile Cervellon and Sandrine Crener

Abstract

The case traces the growth of Maybach from its origins as a pioneer in car manufacturing to its relaunch by parent company Mercedes Benz AG (now Daimler AG). It covers the relaunch strategy implemented by the German car manufacturer and examines the challenges of reviving a prestigious but dormant brand in an increasingly competitive luxury market. In a fast-paced, globalized and ultra-competitive environment, Mercedes is facing a complex set of challenges and needs to find the right strategy to make the Maybach heritage brand desirable and relevant to today’s demanding luxury customers.

Keywords: heritage brand; relaunch; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Product Launch; Strategy; Auto Industry;

Language: English

Format: Print

19 pages

Educators

Citation:

Keinan, Anat, Klaus Heine, Marie-Cecile Cervellon, and Sandrine Crener. "Mercedes and the Relaunch of Maybach: Reviving a Heritage Automobile Brand." Harvard Business School Case 519-099, June 2019.

Working Paper | 2019

Status Pivoting: Coping with Status Threats through Motivated Trade-off Beliefs and Consumption across Domains

Dafna Goor, Anat Keinan and Nailya Ordabayeva

Prior research established that status threat leads consumers to display status-related products such as luxury brands. While compensatory consumption in the domain of the status threat (e.g., products associated with financial and professional success) is the most straightforward way to cope with comparisons to high-status individuals, we examine when, why, and how consumers cope with status threat by choosing to “pivot” and display success and achievements in alternative domains. Using a mixed-method approach, combining field and lab experiments, netnographic analysis, an observational study, and qualitative interviews, we show that when experiencing status threat consumers are motivated to adopt beliefs about trade-offs across domains, i.e. to believe that others’ success in one domain leads to sacrifice or failure in another domain. We further show that these motivated trade-off beliefs fuel consumption and display of products in these alternative domains. We conceptualize this behavior as “status pivoting,” investigate the domains consumers pivot to, and compare the prevalence, appeal, and effectiveness of status pivoting to attempts to restore status in the domain of the threat.

Keywords: Status and Position; Luxury; Consumer Behavior;

Citation:

Goor, Dafna, Anat Keinan, and Nailya Ordabayeva. "Status Pivoting: Coping with Status Threats through Motivated Trade-off Beliefs and Consumption across Domains." Working Paper, April 2019. (Invited for revision at Journal of Consumer Research.) View Details

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Mercedes and the Relaunch of Maybach: Reviving a Heritage Automobile Brand

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