Mercedes-Benz Ushers in New-age Corporate Communication with Digital Signage

The Client

Mercedes-Benz is a globally-renowned German luxury car manufacturer. Founded by Carl Benz in 1926, the company is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. The brand has been a pioneer in revolutionizing the automobile industry.

Many don't know that Mercedes was the first-ever manufacturer of a petrol-powered vehicle called 'Motorwagen.' Since then, the company has made uncountable innovations in the auto sector. In 2020, the company ranked 11^th on Brand Finance's Global 500 list.

As of 2021, Mercedes-Benz has generated a revenue of 169 billion EUR and a brand value of 62.5 billion EUR.

The Challenge

Mercedes employs more than 1,73,000 employees worldwide. On any given day, the organization has to publish internal news bulletins, employee recognition messages, and post content for its internal branding goals.

In 2019, the company introduced an eccentric mode of employee communication through their 'One of Us' initiative. Under this initiative, the organization would showcase behind-the-scene videos and employee stories to foster an inclusive and enthusiastic workplace environment.

For a large organization like Mercedes, all these day-to-day activities take up a significant slice of their internal branding & communication efforts. That is why it would be a complete waste of labor if there were no efficient mediums to bring these stimulating content to the notice of the target audience: the Mercedes staff.

The client started looking for an on-premise digital signage solution for the corporate office in Berlin.

The Solution

Modern digital signage solutions have mostly shifted to the cloud. But the client had stringent security protocols that warranted the on-premise deployment of the digital signage software. The Mercedes IT team managing this project came to know about Pickcel through organic research into the best options they could have for digital signage software vendors.

At this point, it is important to address a fact that could have quickly become a roadblock for this project had it not been for the enormous technological development that has enabled millions of people to work remotely in the past years. The fact is about geographical hindrance.

On-premise deployment has historically necessitated the physical presence of the vendor's teams at the client's deployment site. The Pickcel-Mercedes collaboration was a one-of-a-kind on-premise deployment as it demonstrated how our world had come closer with the aid of tech science and how today, software businesses can deploy on-premise solutions from halfway around the globe.

The client was using Raspberry Pi devices, so the hardware-software compatibility was a significant concern. The Pickcel software has been lauded by brands for being a powerful hardware-neutral digital signage application— this solved a considerable problem during the deployment.

The Mercedes Berlin IT team granted Pickcel a temporary authorization to their internal servers. Using the access keys and VPN, the tech team at Pickcel remotely deployed the software, tested it, and made it operational.

The Outcome

On-premise solutions are deployed to offer maximum privacy to the organization. Respecting our client's insistence on privacy, we will refrain from disclosing any data-driven results in this case study. However, within the permissible limits, we can reveal that the collaboration was a heart-thumping success; it opened new doors for remote on-premise deployments. Mercedes-Benz Berlin has achieved a remarkable feat in their internal branding and communication strategy.