On Tuesday, I was standing on the Sixth Street Bridge in DTLA camera in hand, surrounded by some of the BIGGEST stars in the world: Brad Pitt, Jacob Elordi, George Russell, Kourtney Kardashian, and so many more.
Mercedes-Benz AMG had just shut down one of LA’s most iconic landmarks for a week to launch the new AMG GT 4-Door Coupe and our 12-person BDX crew was right in the middle of it, leading storytelling and celebrity content capture.
I’ll be honest. There was a moment on that bridge where I just stopped and looked around. And I thought… how did I get here?
What Mercedes Actually Built
Let’s talk about what they pulled off, because it deserves to be broken down properly.
Mercedes-Benz AMG didn’t host a car launch. They built an experience that has never existed in the United States before:
➡️ They closed the Sixth Street Bridge in DTLA and recreated a German Autobahn on it.
Complete with signage, a full racetrack, and some of the coolest cars I’ve ever seen… how crazy does that sound?
The new AMG GT 4-Door Coupe sat center stage as Blink-182 performed live. Then they lit the bridge on fire with pyrotechnics at sunset, with the LA skyline behind it. I have literal goosebumps just writing this, thinking back on it.
My best estimate is they spent somewhere around $10 million to make this happen. But here’s what I know for certain… the impact they created was worth multiples of whatever they spent.
Why LA?
This wasn’t Mercedes‘ first time using LA as their stage.
Two years ago they released the G-Wagon here with Travis Scott and Bradley Cooper. They keep coming back, and it’s not by accident.
Los Angeles is one of the most culturally magnetic cities in the world. The talent density is unmatched and so is the media reach.
Every major name in entertainment, sports, and social media either lives there or passes through constantly. When you activate in LA, you’re not just throwing an event, you’re inserting your brand directly into the center of global culture. Mercedes understands this better than almost any brand in the world right now.
If you want to create a cultural moment, you have to go where culture actually lives.
The Real Marketing Lesson Here
We talk a lot in this newsletter about content, strategy, and digital reach. But what Mercedes reminded me that night is something I truly believe and preach constantly:
In-person events are major.
They didn’t launch the AMG GT 4-Door with a press release and a campaign rollout. They created a memory.
Every single person on that bridge, whether it be celebs, creators or journalists, walked away with a feeling attached to that car.
That feeling becomes content ➡️ that content becomes culture ➡️ that culture becomes brand equity that no media buy can replicate.
You don’t need $10 million to apply this principle. But you do need to invest in bringing real people together in real spaces, in places that matter, and giving them something worth remembering.
The Personal Part
At the start of 2026 I made a list. A personal one… things I wanted to feel and accomplish this year.
Shoot more photos was on it. And one bucket list item I’d been carrying for years: photograph the Kardashians.
Both happened the same night, on that bridge.
I photographed Brad Pitt (my favorite actor of all time) and Kourtney Kardashian within hours of each other. And in that moment, something clicked that I’d been wrestling with for years.
I’ve always had a complicated relationship with the word „photographer.“ I run a multi-million dollar agency. I think about strategy and growth and business. For a long time I told myself that „photographer“ wasn’t a serious enough identity.
That night proved me completely wrong.
My passion—the thing that actually drives me—is bringing people together and creating moments that last.
That’s what BDX does. And it turns out, that’s exactly what photography does too. I am a CEO and photographer… they were never two separate things!
The Bigger Picture
Real moments create real impact. Go where culture lives. Invest in experiences that people will feel long after the night is over.
And sometimes, if you build something worth being part of, you end up exactly where you always dreamed of being. Special shout out to my friends Filip, Ollie and Sami for making this happen and having our team at this Mercedes launch!
So excited for the future.
What’s Hot
- The number one rule of branding: Watch me break down what Celsius did right!
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- Micro creators are having a moment: Creators between 5K–50K followers saw partnerships rise massively in Q1 so far!
Community & Events
- May 28 // Off the Books | Los Angeles 🇺🇸 – Details
- Jun 2 // Go To Market Mastermind Workshop – Details
Thanks for reading this week’s letter! I’ll see you in the next one!
— Benni
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