Lincoln is making big waves today with the announcement of its "Introducing the Lincoln Motor Company" ad campaign. Though Lincolnisn'trebranding itself as the Lincoln Motor Company, its ad campaign will take a look at its storied past as it seeks to reintroduce itself to the public. What, aside from the new 2013 MKZ, does it have to introduce? Not a Mustang-based V-8-powered rear-drive sedan, but an upcoming C-segment concept at the 2013 Detroit auto show and EcoBoost power for all future Lincolns.
Matt VanDyke, Director, Global Lincoln tells us the brand's futuredoesn't include V-8-power or rear-drive,which would rule out the possibility of a Mustang-based Lincoln coupe or sedan. Instead,Lincoln will followVolkswagen'sAudimodel by continuing to base its vehicles onFordplatforms, except with more differentiation than before. To help distinguish itself more from Ford,all future Lincolns will offer EcoBoost engines, and it'll begin to offer powertrains unavailable on comparable Fords - the V-6-powered MKZ being the first example.
VanDyke reminds us of Lincoln's plan to introduce four new vehicles in the next four years, starting with the MKZ. Thoseproducts include arevisedLincoln Navigator, which we can confirmwillget EcoBoost power- likely the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 powering the Ford F-150. Otherwise, there won't be an MKZ plug-in hybrid or a Lincoln version of the Focus Electric, thoughLincoln will be showing a C-segment concept at the Detroit auto show.
As for the "Introducing the Lincoln Motor Company" campaign, it firmly keeps a foot planted in the once-storied automaker's past, while optimistically looking forward to the future with the new 2013 Lincoln MKZ and MKZ Hybrid - the beginning of what Lincoln hopes is a renaissance for the brand.
The Lincoln Motor Company campaign will be featured with print, TV, and web ads. Notably, Lincoln's print ads won't feature a single image.The brand's Twitter account also confirmed that its TV push will include Lincoln's first-ever Super Bowl commercial.
The Lincoln Motor Company campaign will focus on what can be expected from Lincoln in the future - understated luxury that stands apart, not out. The ad campaign which will play big in East Coast and West Coast markets will highlight that Lincolns are for customers that don't want another BMW or Lexus. That's not to say performance won't be important to Lincoln, it just won't be Lincoln's number one priority.
As expected in this day and age, the Lincoln Motor Company launch came with a slew of YouTube videos. The first video, a teaser for the new campaign called "Get Ready," goes behind the scenes of the Lincoln Motor Company commercial shoots, and even includes a brief glimpse of a Ford Mustang chassis in the background of one shot - teasing the long-rumored Mustang-based rear-drive Lincoln that'll never be.
The next, self-titled video takes a melodramatic tone with a voiceover speaking of rebirth over clips of the Space Shuttle launching and people base-jumping off cliffs, before bringing the message home with images of classic Lincolns and the new 2013 MKZ.
The final video - the first commercial of the Lincoln Motor Company campaign - speaks of Lincoln moving forward by looking back at its storied past. The commercial then draws visual links between the new MKZ and the Continental, and takes a look back at the presidents of the past who have used Lincolns as their official state limos.
Check out the three videos for yourself below. Do you think the Lincoln Motor Company campaign will succeed in winning over new buyers? Sound off in the comments below.
Scott Evanscontributed to this report.
Source: Lincoln, Lincoln via Twitter and YouTube
I generally like writing—especially when it’s about cars—but I hate writing about myself. So instead of blathering on about where I was born (New York City, in case you were wondering) or what type of cars I like (all of ’em, as long as it has a certain sense of soul or purpose), I’ll answer the one question I probably get most, right after what’s your favorite car (see above): How’d you get that job? Luck. Well, mostly. Hard work, too. Lots of it. I sort of fell into my major of journalism/mass communication at St. Bonaventure University and generally liked it a lot. In order to complete my degree senior year, we had to spend our last two semesters on some sort of project. Seeing as I loved cars and already spent a good portion of my time reading about cars on sites such as Motor Trend, I opted to create a car blog. I started a Tumblr, came up with a car-related name (The Stig’s American Cousin), signed up for media access on a bunch of manufacturer’s websites, and started writing. I did everything from cover new trim levels to reviewing my friends’ cars. I even wrote a really bad April Fool’s Day post about the next Subaru Impreza WRX being Toyota-Corolla-based. It was fun, and because it was fun, it never felt like work. Sometime after my blog had gotten off the ground, I noticed that Motor Trend was hiring for what’s now our Daily News Team. I sent in my résumé and a link to my blog. I got the job, and two weeks after graduation I made the move from New York to California. I’ve been happily plugging away at a keyboard—and driving some seriously awesome hardware—ever since.
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