All grown up

Stuttgart – Mercedes-Benz is rewriting the rules of growing up with a year-long campaign targeted at Millennials.

• The initial series comprises a microsite and five videos that each address a traditional rule for adulthood
• Millennials are delaying car ownership, something that was previously a marker for becoming an adult

Promoting its compact car models, the Grow Up campaign was conceived by European agency Antoni and marks the most extensive content-creation campaign in the history of the brand. The initial five short films each rewrite a different life lesson, including get a job, start a family and be a good parent, in order to reach a generation caught between adolescence and adulthood.

Get a Job features rapper A$AP Rocky as he reflects on his non-conformist career choices. In Be a Good Parent, parenting is put under the microscope as the story follows a father and son who reconnect after facing difficulties in their relationship. By intentionally contradicting the rules, Mercedes-Benz recognises that as Millennials delay buying a car, they are taking longer to become an adult.

‘Grow Up is much more than a major campaign about the model series,’ says Dr Jens Thiemer, vice-president of marketing communications for Mercedes-Benz Cars, in a statement. ‘It is a further move forward by the brand as a whole towards more modernity, progressivism and dynamism across the entire brand identity of Mercedes-Benz.’