In future all car brands will operate this way

There is a school of thought that says a large slice of the car-choosing market makes a decision entirely on the badge on the front of a car.

To cater for this market, Mercedes has become the first carmaker to put its money where its mouth is and spent millions building a “brand experience centre”.

Merc’s MB World is best described as part ultra-modern museum, part up-market amusement park, part car dealership, although it should be pointed out that the dealership influence is by far the smallest part of the mix.

When you go through the entrance at the Brooklands site in Weybridge, you are immediately struck by the size of the centre. Walk around the interior and you’re struck by the scale of Mercedes’ investment.

While the company isn’t giving any clues as to the total spend on the site, just the land alone would cost millions because it’s based in prime Surrey commuter-land. It also takes over the majority of the historic Brooklands race track.

Clive Stevens runs all but the sales and servicing parts of the site and has been involved with the project since its inception in late 2004. For such a straight-talking man, he describes the site with an out-of-character marketing phrase – “alternative destination market”.

From a corporate perspective, the 16,650sq/m building offers the latest conference facilities with various presentation rooms, including an 80-seater theater. There are also individual offices for hire at £20 an hour, which includes coffee, cakes and broadband.

However, it’s the test track in front of the building that will be of most relevance to the corporate market.

Mercedes is running eight standard “driving experiences from 4×4 to AMG,” says Stevens, one of which is a corporate responsibility course.

“The corporate responsibility course is based half in the classroom and half on the track,” says Stevens.

“The classroom session allows us to think through the responsibility of driving. We get people to think about themselves and others on the road.

“On the track we teach stopping distances, braking and steering. We cover sudden lane changes and show how easy it is to lose control.”

Stevens adds: “The courses are being marketed as a product in their own right, at events and through Mercedes’ corporate sales team.”

The courses are run by Brandscape, which already run 4×4 courses for M-class buyers and performance driving courses for AMG buyers.

However, according to corporate sales boss Colin Niklas, other tailor-made courses may be made available to Mercedes’ corporate customers at MB World through another company, although Niklas refused to name the firm.

“We’re looking to support some customers with the driving packages. The test drive packages are a fantastic opportunity for people to experience the cars and the brand,” says Niklas.

Corporate customers can expect to see a lot of MB World in the next 12 months.

Niklas explains: “We’ve booked a number of slots there for next year for all our corporate events. And that includes launching the new C-class to the corporate market.

“We’ve also invited our top 100 customers to the opening day. We’ve got a database of 14,500 people who we’ll contact with information about Mercedes-Benz World.”

For a virtual tour of Mercedes-Benz World go to www.mercedes-benzworld.co.uk.