• by Karl Greenberg , February 2, 2007

Mercedes-Benz is expanding its six-year sponsorship of Fashion Week, which started in New York today and runs through next week. It's now title sponsor of the entire franchise, which consists of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York, plus shows in Los Angeles and Miami. The goal is to reach women.

The brand is also expanding its global association with fashion this year. The German automaker will sponsor a new event, slated for this July, called Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Berlin. Mercedes also sponsors fashion shows in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Mexico, Venezuela and Canada.

Mark McNabb, Mercedes-Benz USA's vice president of sales, said corporate sponsorship of all three U.S. events allows Mercedes, which also sponsors golf tournaments, to reach a targeted audience.

"We have been trying to improve our marketing to a female audience over the past sixteen to eighteen months," he said.

Mercedes had been a regional--but not title--sponsor in L.A. since 2003. "We knew we wanted to be in fashion and golf, and decided if we are going to be in fashion, we needed to be title sponsors of all three events," he said.

Mercedes will do more integrated marketing around fashion this year, he said, to get "bigger bang for the buck," including a Mercedes Fashion Week road show co-produced by Fashion Week promoter IMG Fashion, a division of media company IMG, that will visit major cities, serving up a trimmed-down version of the fashion shows, as well as a lineup of Mercedes vehicles.

Mercedes will also launch a Web site hosting highlights and videos of the shows, and run fashion-themed advertising in event brochures and other collateral material.

At the New York show, Mercedes will display the flagship CL 600 sedan, launched two months ago, and a new concept that debuted in Detroit, called Ocean Drive. Next Wednesday, Mercedes will sponsor a new program, "Driven By Design," at the Bryant Park venue, a panel discussion including Mercedes designers and fashion designers on how car and fashion design intersect.