The customer is always right - How existing owners can influence innovations on future Mercedes passenger cars - no matter how bizarre their suggestions might be.
If you decide to keep up with the neighbours and buy a Mercedes-Benz next year, you just might discover – hopefully before leaving the showroom – that it has a panoramic roof embodying a holographic image of David Beckham's face, a sprinkler system to keep the driver alert or a pets' loo in the boot.
And it could be your neighbours who are to praise – or blame – because Mercedes is a company that listens to what its customers want. At its high security Stuttgart Innovation Centre, last year more than 1,500 customers over 60 meetings were given free rein to say what they would like next generation models to have as standard or on the options list.
Mercedes is serious about listening to its customers
Dr Goetz Renner, head of Mercedes' Customer Research Centre, explains: "We've found through our research that customers are enthusiastic about innovations. This is why the Centre approaches the issue of innovation in an holistic manner – and without reservations."
The meetings are enthusiastically interactive. A dozen customers might stand in a circle each facing a vertical board divided into three columns. They are invited to write in the columns – in just a word or two – their ideas for new designs. It does not have to be something specific; it might just be a general idea, even an emotion.
Then they step smartly to the right, read the words their neighbour has written and add their own ideas. They might continue a theme or suggest something different, but generally the words interlink. When they've finished, a single column might read: pleasure, stars, sun, warmth, sunroof, sport, excitement, rivalry, goals, football, Beckham, wealth, fashion.
These ideas, and perhaps some similar from other groups, would then be discussed together with a Mercedes designer. After a while it all starts to cohere: a star, goals, sport, football, sunshine. This is how the idea for the aforementioned panoramic roof might emerge.
Another idea could concern the further development of Mercedes' system that detects driver drowsiness. At present it gives audible and visual warnings to suggest a break. An active system, though, might involve a sprinkler above the driver's head – or even a squirt from a water pistol. That idea probably wouldn't make it either.
Despite the potential for the bizarre, the Innovation Centre has a serious side, with practical ideas emerging in terms of safety, environmental issues, comfort and plain common sense.
Researchers and developers consider which ideas meet the requirements of the majority of Mercedes customers. "Concepts are developed and prioritised. All of the ideas that can be incorporated into a prototype are then tested by a special unit that is devoted to product acceptance of the most customer-relevant innovations for the Mercedes of the future," says Dr Renner.
He is, however, reticent about detailing some of the customer brainstorming ideas that have made the grade. An industrial secret, perhaps? ( telegraph.co.uk )
If you decide to keep up with the neighbours and buy a Mercedes-Benz next year, you just might discover – hopefully before leaving the showroom – that it has a panoramic roof embodying a holographic image of David Beckham's face, a sprinkler system to keep the driver alert or a pets' loo in the boot.
And it could be your neighbours who are to praise – or blame – because Mercedes is a company that listens to what its customers want. At its high security Stuttgart Innovation Centre, last year more than 1,500 customers over 60 meetings were given free rein to say what they would like next generation models to have as standard or on the options list.
Mercedes is serious about listening to its customers
Dr Goetz Renner, head of Mercedes' Customer Research Centre, explains: "We've found through our research that customers are enthusiastic about innovations. This is why the Centre approaches the issue of innovation in an holistic manner – and without reservations."
The meetings are enthusiastically interactive. A dozen customers might stand in a circle each facing a vertical board divided into three columns. They are invited to write in the columns – in just a word or two – their ideas for new designs. It does not have to be something specific; it might just be a general idea, even an emotion.
Then they step smartly to the right, read the words their neighbour has written and add their own ideas. They might continue a theme or suggest something different, but generally the words interlink. When they've finished, a single column might read: pleasure, stars, sun, warmth, sunroof, sport, excitement, rivalry, goals, football, Beckham, wealth, fashion.
These ideas, and perhaps some similar from other groups, would then be discussed together with a Mercedes designer. After a while it all starts to cohere: a star, goals, sport, football, sunshine. This is how the idea for the aforementioned panoramic roof might emerge.
Another idea could concern the further development of Mercedes' system that detects driver drowsiness. At present it gives audible and visual warnings to suggest a break. An active system, though, might involve a sprinkler above the driver's head – or even a squirt from a water pistol. That idea probably wouldn't make it either.
Despite the potential for the bizarre, the Innovation Centre has a serious side, with practical ideas emerging in terms of safety, environmental issues, comfort and plain common sense.
Researchers and developers consider which ideas meet the requirements of the majority of Mercedes customers. "Concepts are developed and prioritised. All of the ideas that can be incorporated into a prototype are then tested by a special unit that is devoted to product acceptance of the most customer-relevant innovations for the Mercedes of the future," says Dr Renner.
He is, however, reticent about detailing some of the customer brainstorming ideas that have made the grade. An industrial secret, perhaps? ( telegraph.co.uk )
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