Building Brand Architecture Sample Report: Mercedes vs Toyota

Introduction
For my “Brand Architecture” sample report, I will be looking at two giant
companies in the automobile industry: Mercedes and Toyota. The reason to
select these companies is that they have been in this industry for very long and
has a lot of customers and are very known so this will make comparison easy
and hence the concepts easy to understand. The center of focus here will be
the cars produced by the two companies and the comparison between them
leading to different brand personalities. The simplified comparison between
these two valuable brands will be done through the brand pyramid. The goal of
this report generation is to observe how different relationships and opinions
customers hold about the two different brands that are providing somewhat
similar products which has the same purpose.

Brand Architecture
➢ Brand Architecture for Mercedes

Brand essence/core: sense of power, luxury

Brand personality: creative, charming,

upperclass, ingenious

Emotional benefits: sense of value, feeling of

importance, self-confidence, positive ego
boost, self belief

Product benefits: reliable, comfortable, stable

while driving, better control, longer natural
lifespan, value for money

Product attributes: aesthetic design, luxury

interior, high performance engine, comfortable
seats, wide interior space, more speed,

Sources consultedhttps://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-
brands/2019/ranking/https://paultan.org/2020/03/11/mercedes-benz-is-worlds-most-valuable-car-brand-again-ferrari-
strongest-brand-says-brand-finance/
 ➢ Brand architecture for Toyota

Brand core/essence: desire to achieve more,

consumer friendly

Brand personality: competent, reliable, tough,

familiar, self-confident, competetive

Emotional benefits: dependable, upright,

confidence, friendly

Product benefits: reliable, user friendly, not

costly to maintain and repair spare parts, range
of options,

Product attributes: competetive pricing, range

of designs,

Brand comparison
Mercedes and Toyota compete in similar markets and hence have some
similarities as well as some integral differences. Mercedes is a luxury car which
gives a sense of value to its consumers and provides them with their full value
of money. On the other hand, Toyota is not as expensive as Mercedes, has a
competitive pricing, and can be used easily for a wider range of purposes.
Furthermore, Toyota is easy to maintain and repair whereas Mercedes can
prove to be much more costly to maintain over years. Mercedes mainly targets
people who are very wealthy- mainly successful businesses. On the other hand,
Toyota is a much more widely used car and has a wider range of users, from
middleclass to the upper-class.
Mercedes users are less concerned with the pricing and more with the brand
name and value itself. Their users are more likely to be lifetime users of the
Mercedes- showing loyalty in return for the brand value. Mercedes makes
their consumers feel valued, and as a consumer, the brand kind of boosts their
ego in a positive way and as an owner of a luxurious car they have a sense of
achievement and are more confident. While Toyota with its wide range of

Sources consultedhttps://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-
brands/2019/ranking/https://paultan.org/2020/03/11/mercedes-benz-is-worlds-most-valuable-car-brand-again-ferrari-
strongest-brand-says-brand-finance/
 options lets consumers choose based on their needs and find the perfect car
for themselves within the price limit. Toyota has an edge over Mercedes due to
its economical fuel consumption and lower maintenance cost.
Due to different product attributes these two companies segment based on
their needs. Mercedes target is the wealthy fraction of the population to
achieve its goals of increasing revenue. While Toyota targets a much wider
range of population due to its competitive pricing, economical factors, and
much wider options of cars to choose from to increase its revenues.

Brand Value/Equity
With a brand value of $56,246M, Toyota is ahead of the brand value of
Mercedes which is $50,832M according to the 2019 report. Among overall
companies, Toyota stands at #11, and Mercedes at #12.
The latest 2020 report by paultan.org considers Mercedes to be the #1 most
valuable brand with a brand value of $65,041M, whereas Toyota stands at #2
brand value of $58,076M.
When it comes to top 10 strongest brands, Toyota stands at #2 while Mercedes
is not even the list. The strongest brands are not evaluated based on a specific
dollar value but rather on other factors.
The key takeaways from this section is that based on a dollar value, these two
companies have a very strong competition going on. The values are not very
far away from the other and any company can come out on top in the future
based on how well do they serve their consumers.

Sources consultedhttps://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-
brands/2019/ranking/https://paultan.org/2020/03/11/mercedes-benz-is-worlds-most-valuable-car-brand-again-ferrari-
strongest-brand-says-brand-finance/
 Sources consulted
https://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-
brands/2019/ranking/
https://paultan.org/2020/03/11/mercedes-benz-is-worlds-most-
valuable-car-brand-again-ferrari-strongest-brand-says-brand-
finance/

Sources consultedhttps://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-
brands/2019/ranking/https://paultan.org/2020/03/11/mercedes-benz-is-worlds-most-valuable-car-brand-again-ferrari-
strongest-brand-says-brand-finance/