There is a brand new showroom look for the Cycle & Carriage Bintang, Mutiara Damansara Autohaus starting today. This Autohaus features the integration of four elements Media & IT, Format, People & Process and Architecture to deliver an even better customer experience.
We ask the question, is this really necessary?
Premium car brands are giving select Malaysian contractors good profits as they move their dealers to spend millions in redesign and new age customer experience areas. This is the first showroom for Cycle & Carriage and in the coming months all other Cycle & Carriage showrooms will be renovated to follow this new brand identity. This translates to more millions spent and hopefully higher sales volume to pay back this huge investment.
Yes, the cost of this renovations seem hard to swallow as the automotive market braces for a slowdown in luxury car sales and a possible flat total industry growth.
But to maintain their dealership agreement, they have to keep the brand owners happy and follow the new identity presented and fork out the millions needed for showroom renovations.
So what experience will the Mercedes-Benz customer receive here?
Welcome area
The welcome area acts a single customer experience point, where processes and architecture are designed with optimal, individual customer support in mind. Each customer is our guest on his individual customer journey. The new brand presence begins the moment sales and after sales customers steps in to the Autohaus. The Star Assistant is the first contact for the customer in the showroom, who acts as the “first face” of the brand ensuring a very welcoming atmosphere at reception.
If the customer has an appointment, the responsible consultant is notified of their arrival. For customers without any prior contact with a Salesperson and with no established purchase intention, the Star Assistant requests a Product Expert from the available pool and accompanies the visitor to the waiting area. At the waiting area, various seating of semi-public or private area can be selected flexibly for individual consultations in accordance with the preference of the customer.
Virtual brand experience
All retail elements were considered and modernised with the new appearance, from the welcome area, sales and service to delivery.
Supported by media, a brand space is created where customers and interested parties experience the brand virtually and in reality. Leisure facilities for families such as hospitality café are available at the Autohaus whilst waiting for their car to be serviced.
The newly-launched concept will also utilize the entire showroom area exclusively for customer service orientation without permanent workstations in the showroom.
The new brand presence reflects the design idiom of modern luxury and also makes this more intensely experienceable in retail. Setting up a drive-in service reception also illustrates the consistent alignment towards customer requirements and enables optimal customer care in combination with the integrated customer contact surfaces for sales and after sales.
Digital media
The architectural design and the way media are used are designed keeping in mind fundamental procedural considerations. It allows the architecture, media and processes to be regarded as components of an integrated element to optimise customer experience and stage vehicle display. They work together to enable a dealership experience characterised by a high-quality visitor environment, lightings to set the ambience in the showroom, smooth processes and a contemporary consultancy concept.
Short and long-term communication as well as the staging of products is carried out exclusively in digital form by means of media surfaces and mobile tools. Integration of Digital Media makes for a more intense product experience by enabling the flexible creation of an atmospheric setting.
Above all, in advisory and sales situations, Digital Media allows for a previously unknown brand and product experience for the customers. Alternating use of medial surfaces with brand, technology and lifestyle topics not only support the presentation and explanation of the products and services of an ever-increasing portfolio, but also ensure highly emotive and individual advice and sales.
Architectural concept
The new Mercedes-Benz brand presence makes it possible for the material dimension of our corporate culture and our brand promise to be experienced beyond the online world. The appearance of our Corporate Identity elements, brand architecture and interior fittings conveys precisely those values which we associate with our products. The same philosophy reflects in our approach in welcoming our customers and potential customers.
The architectural concept of the showroom contrasts with a silver-white yet functional roof to provide weather protection for our customers. Spatial boundaries within the building are kept to a minimum to deliberately create an open-space feeling. A largely transparent building façade creates a flowing transition between the interior and exterior areas.
The concept is modular in design and is oriented to the needs of customers and interested parties. Thanks to their flexibility and variability, the brand presence’s individual elements allow a high degree of spatial applications and formats, and thus a consistently applicable CI/CD. This enables individual consultation and sales processes with a standardised global brand presence.
Vehicle handover
The handover of a new vehicle is an experience on its own, to welcome each customer to the world of Mercedes-Benz. Media displays and acoustic sound system enable personalized settings as the vehicle is introduced.
