Was at the launch of the Mercedes M- and S-Class. Times surely have changed in the Indian and global markets. A few years back, I remember when Merc entered the Indian market, the first press con had a ‘selected media list’. This time the list had significantly expanded and the company was more open to answering questions.
Talking of questions, I am sure that even the Mercedes India top brass wasn’t ready for an ambiguity like “What is your marketing strategy for the S Class?” This came from a PYT in low waist jeans from a 24-hr news monstrosity. While she was quite clueless about the industry, her confidence and self-belief was commendable as she never even twitched before repeating the question once again. What answer did she expect? “We plan to peddle the S-Class through pyramid marketing schemes?”
Its not that she was a unique case. With press cons nowadays heavily crowded by the numerous 24 hr news channels (at last count there were 65 of them – I did the counting and after 20 got tired and just made up the number but hey there are many), it is a PR firm’s nightmare to keep a track on who came, asked what and reported which version.
