Mercedes-Benz completes CMO search (Score 50)

Sales lead: This hire will likely lead to spend shifts & agency changes, so reach out now for more information. 

• Mercedes-Benz USA (MB) selected Melody Lee as CMO, effective July 1st, 2023.
• Lee most recently served as global brand & product marketing SVP of MillerKnoll.
• She brings industry experience from her time as Cadillac's brand marketing director. 
• This fills the vacancy we told you about in February. 

Target demographic: Affluent millennials & Gen-Xers with a male skew

The company will likely:

• Continue increasing digital ad spend
• Invest in new ad channels
• Review the current agency roster

Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: MB spent nearly $61.8m on national TV ads YTD, a slight (1%) increase from $60.9m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend equaled $126.2m in 2021 and $127.2m in 2022. 
• Ad programing: It placed ads during programming such as NFL Football, 2023 Masters Tournament, College Football, College Basketball, and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. 

Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: MB spent about $4.8m on digital display ads YTD, a 55% increase from $3.1m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• YTD data: 544.4m impressions via Facebook (29%), Instagram (26%), YouTube (17%), desktop display (16%), mobile display (10%), and desktop video (2%). 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend dropped by 29% from $16.2m in 2021 to $11.6m in 2021. 
• Ad location: It placed 96% of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, instagram.com, youtube.com, edmunds.com, and caranddriver.com. It placed 4% indirectly through Display & Video 360 and Google AdX+AdSense onto sites such as yahoo.com, weather.com, edmunds.com, kohls.com, and ebay.com. 

Additional channel insights  

• Vivvix: MB also invests in print, OOH, radio, and local broadcast.
• Top podcasts sponsored: The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, The Dan Patrick Show, Fresh Air, and CBC News: The World This Hour. 

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: Contact the new CMO now to secure top priority. 
• Current roster: 
  • R/GA: digital/social AOR
  • Omnicom Media Group: media AOR
  • Merkley + Partners: creative AOR
  • OSK Marketing & Communications: PR, creative, & digital
  • In-house: creative