One of the ads features singer and actor Harry Connick, Jr. and the other features triathlete Sarah Reinertsen. In the former, which debuted Sunday night, Connick drives a Lincoln MKX through his old neighborhood in New Orleans, on his way to a party of musicians celebrating Habitat for Humanity's Music Village housing project, in which he is involved.

While the advertising touts his efforts and memories in the Big Easy, it also calls out vehicle features, such as the BlueTooth hands-free calling via the new Synch feature--a Ford collaboration with Microsoft--the moon roof and interior space. At the end of the spot he rolls up to the party, looks through the roof at musicians jamming, and asks, "Who ordered the crawfish?" before hauling several tubs of the crustaceans out of the vehicle.

The other spot, starring athlete Reinertsen, features the Lincoln MKZ sedan. Rienertsen is the first female amputee to compete and complete the Ford Ironman Triathlon Kona, a Hawaiian event comprising a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

The ad begins with Reinertsen driving through the streets of New York in a Lincoln MKZ, thinking about her aspirations. The ad concludes with her stepping out of the vehicle, revealing her prosthetic left leg to the viewer, and joining several other runners for a run through Central Park. The commercial ends with Reinertsen saying, "My dream is to do extraordinary things every day."

Mike Richards, general marketing manager of Lincoln Mercury, says the ads help reinforce Lincoln's brand appeal. He says that while the new ads stay true to what might be called an "I haven't forgotten my roots" theme, the company is evolving the campaign this quarter to hone in on product attributes.

The campaign evolution comes as Lincoln prepares to unveil the MKS, a full-sized sedan and sibling of the new Ford Taurus. It will be revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show this fall and go on sale next summer.

He says the effort positions Lincoln as a luxury-car brand for those who aren't ostentatious about their accomplishments. "We know that we have appealed, for years, to people who are less concerned about shouting about their success. The brand is authentic and genuine, so these ads are all based on the idea of advancing the American dream, and with defining the concept of genuine and authentic," he says. "The stories are about accomplished, genuine people who haven't forgotten who they are."

Lincoln launched the "Dreams" campaign, via Y&R, Detroit, last fall, both to pitch Lincoln's four new vehicles--the Navigator, Navigator L, the then-new Lincoln MKX crossover, and MKZ sedan--as well as a mantra: "Aim Higher."

The initial ads, like the new ones, featured well-known athletes and celebrities--Dwayne Wade of NBA team the Miami Heat and Rocco DiSpirito, gourmet chef and author--returning to their hometowns to help the communities from which they came.

The ads "scored off the charts in likability," says Richards. "The Harry Connick ad is a similar idea: you have what we think is a perfect icon, he's a genuine guy, very accomplished, and even though he lives in the Northeast, he has come back and is making a concerted effort to get the town back on its feet."

Richards says that as the campaign evolves this year and next, the core message about understated accomplishment will remain, but a new raft of ads starting next month will emphasize product. "We will continue to run communications that reinforce what the brand stands--on the emotional side--but on the rational side, product ads will show why we are among the very best."

A new ad for the MKZ sedan, for example, touts the car's all-wheel-drive technology by showing the car ascending a 60-degree ramp over a sea of descending ball bearings. Another ad will reveal a unique rear-camera technology in which the view screen is integrated with the rear-view mirror, rather than positioned on the instrument console. The ad will show the Navigator backing up along a circular ramp some 60 feet in the air that also happens to be littered with tree stumps.

Another spot will show the MKX parked in a quiet forest. The voiceover says: "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, will it make a sound?" Then, a massive tree falls next to the vehicle. Cut to the inside of the car, and the tree collapses silently. Richards says three more will begin in January.

He adds that although the new raft of ads will be focused on vehicle features, they are tier 1 ads--intended as much to reinforce brand identity as trumpet the virtues of Lincoln vehicles.

"I have worked very closely with dealers since I got here, and initially we needed to work on the lower part of the funnel to get things moving," he says, adding that his nationally advisory committee of 26 dealers then agreed to move marketing strategy to build higher-funnel metrics. "They universally backed it, which I've never seen before. They were just hugely supportive, so it's very refreshing."

He says the campaign includes a complete tier-two package for the Lincoln Mercury dealer associations, while will begin in the second half of November--but then, starting in January, tier two weight will be reduced.

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