• by Karl Greenberg , April 3, 2007

Ford's Mercury division has launched a new ad campaign to tout the 2008 version of the Mercury Mariner SUV. The effort, which pitches the available hybrid powertrain, design changes to the vehicle, and lower manufacturer's suggested retail price, aims to attract younger buyers to a brand that, along with Buick, has garnered older-than-average consumers.

Mariner, based on the same vehicle platform as the Ford Escape, comes--like the latter--in a hybrid gas-electric version. The campaign--which Ford says will run in lifestyle media with a focus on cooking, health and fitness, and home design--aims as much to entice women to the vehicle as men. Per Mercury, more than 50% of customers are female, versus 40% for the overall brand. Ford says the median consumer age for Mariner customers is 47, versus 55 for the brand.

Alan Hall, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brand communications manager, says the Mariner has brought in new customers, and that the creative "is designed to reach these new, younger, more diverse customers. The creative employs the latest in 3D animation technology to highlight the features of the vehicle."

The ad push, via Y&R, Detroit, uses Mercury's three-year-old tagline, "New Doors Opened," and star Mercury spokeswoman since spring of 2005, Jill Wagner. One ad has her holding a Mercury logo and flicking it with her finger, which sets of a tuning-fork harmonic tone. The tone becomes visible as a wave that seems to generate the vehicle out of thin air. "What happens when an idea strikes just the right note?" she asks. The tag-line remains "New Doors Open."

TV ads will run on media such as HGTV, the Food Network, and DIY (Do It Yourself) network.

One spot launched last week, with two more on deck for April. Print ads, starting this month, focus on design and hybrid-powertrain technology. They will run in magazines like Yoga Journal, Everyday with Rachel Ray, Outside and others.

Mariner sales are even with last year. The company sold 5,033 Mariners in the first quarter of 2006, and 5,318 in the first quarter this year, per Global Insight, Lexington, Mass. "That brand is in a tough spot because, while they have a very appealing spokesperson in Jill Wagner, it's Mercury. There's so much baggage in terms of people thinking of it as their grandfather's brand," says Rebecca Lindland, analyst with the market consultancy. She noted that a third of Mercury sales still come from the aged Grand Marquis. "Out of 181,000 units Mercury sold last year, 65,000 came from Grand Marquis. That drives the average age way up."

Separately, Ford of Canada has signed a phenomenon in China, Mark Roswell, a Canadian who made it big in mainland China as a humorous character named "Dashan," to star in Chinese-language ads aimed at Chinese Canadians. The effort, starting in Vancouver and Toronto, includes TV, radio and print ads, plus a Web site, chinese.ford.ca.