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Kemmler Kemmler GmbH [2025]
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Future Moves – New Mobility Podcast

The mobility landscape is changing radically. Sustainability is high on the agenda and many new players are entering the market, such as solar cars, electricity and new services.

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Who is driving cultural relevance?

As the car loses its social status, traditional players such as the ÖNVP seem to be on the up. But who is really creating cultural relevance and hype? Who is mastering the ‘game of cool’ in the social and influencer channels? And is the new mobility scene really capturing the imagination?

To understand where the social buzz around new mobility is right now, we took a look at our cultural tracking tool, KX Radar. We analysed not only the brand awareness and product interest of new versus old mobility services, but more importantly, their cultural relevance.

In the Future Moves – New Mobility Podcast, we talked in detail about our findings.

01: Old mobility strikes back

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While there seems to be a lot of talk about new mobility concepts, the real hype is still around car brands and airlines. In particular, brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, which have embraced the new world of collaborations with cultural megastars such as Virgil Abloh and Heron Preston, are leading when it comes to cultural connectivity.

Airlines that are all about luxury, like Qatar and Etihad, are also strong performers. Air travel is transforming from a commodity to a luxury game, both financially and morally. This is reflected in their creative network with luxury icons and top international stars such as David Beckham and Alexandra Pereira.

02: BVG is the clear outlier

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The only real alternative mobility player creating cultural hype is the BVG – or Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe. Through a consistently witty online presence and some savvy promotional activity (such as releasing their own limited edition sneakers complete with a year’s travel pass included), they have succeed in attracting a wide creative network that includes not only mobility experts but also cultural players such as König Galerie, Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre and Aminata Belli.

Unlike other transport organisations, BVG really manages to capture the ‘Berlin Edge’ and outperform the competition with an ironic and self-aware sense of humour. So much so, they actually perform on par with hype brands like Stone Island, Thrasher and New Balance, leaving the local competition from Deutsche Bahn (a far, far bigger company with many more resources) lagging way behind.

03: New mobility lacks experiential quality

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Another interesting observation is that new mobility players like Share Now, Bolt, Uber, Miles and Emmy don’t really create much excitement or inspiration beyond their strong rational business proposition. Despite disrupting their industry with a radical new proposition, their marketing activities fall flat when it comes to attracting influential followers.

When you compare that to a new mobility experience like Space X, the difference is clear. While it might not be entirely fair to compare a local taxi service to a literal rocket ship company, the observation here is that to generate excitement and become a culturally relevant player in the new mobility scene you need to create a public presence that feels edgy and exciting enough for people to want to follow its ongoing progress.

To find out more about what drives the new mobility vision, get in touch and see what else our KX Radar tool can reveal…

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