Automakers celebrating social media milestones isn’t new in the industry. Back in August 2013, Porsche->ke1 released a special-edition->ke2041 2014 911 Carrera when its Facebook page reached 5 million fans. In June 2014, Ferrari->ke252 celebrated reaching 15 million fans by having Rafaelle De Simone take the Ferrari LaFerrari->ke4626 for a hot lap around the Fiorano track and dedicating it to its fans.

On that note, Mercedes->ke187 recently celebrated reaching 17 million fans on Facebook. Sure enough, the company didn’t let the occasion pass without tipping its hat to every person who clicked on the ‘Like’ button on Mercedes' Facebook page.

To celebrate the milestone, Mercedes-AMG designers took time off of their presumably busy schedules to create a wall-mounted image of the Mercedes-AMG GT->ke4853 using only special, black adhesives.

The designers documented the whole build courtesy of a time-lapse video->ke278 that showed how intricate and time-consuming the entire “taping” process was. The result is nothing short of incredible; it just goes to show just how talented Mercedes-AMG designers are in creating something out of nothing.

If you’re one of the 17 million fans of Mercedes’ Facebook page, you can appreciate the effort the Mercedes-AMG designers put into creating the unique artwork. The time-lapse video is only 97 seconds long so you can show your appreciation by checking it out.

Why it matters

The Facebook milestone wasn't the only good news Mercedes received recently. Far more important than all the ‘likes’ its Facebook page has gotten is the result of a study conducted by socialBench, which determined that Mercedes-Benz is by far the most valuable Facebook page of all the world’s automotive brands.

According to socialBench, Mercedes-Benz ranked first among 75 German and international Facebook pages of auto brands in the category of “Community Value”. The study also determined that the German automaker’s Facebook site has a value of €7.2 million ($9.01 million), more than double the value of the second and third place brands, Aston Martin at €3.48 million ($4.36 million) and Land Rover at €2.8 million ($3.5 million), respectively.

socialBench’s “community value” determines the hypothetical value of an automaker’s fan community and is calculated based on how involved fans of a certain automotive page are. The premise is simple: the more fans interact with each other, the higher the value of the page.

A similar study conducted by Social Bakers in July 2014 also determined that among all brands (not just auto companies), Mercedes tallied more than 12 million interactions in the second quarter of 2014. That number was second only to the Discovery Channel’s Facebook page.

Jens Thiemer, Head of Marketing Communications at Mercedes-Benz, validated these studies, calling the brand’s extensive online and social media activities as important parts of its marketing sales and strategy.

“Our high-grade and creative content is reaching more and more fans and interested individuals around the world, who are intensively using and discussing our offerings as well as commenting on them and sharing them with friends."

Mercedes-AMG GT