Ford Pitches Lincoln MKS To Younger African-American Crowd

Ford Lincoln MKS Ford's luxury division, Lincoln, is pitching Gen X African-American consumers with a new campaign centering on a three-minute short film all about a Hollywood romance and the division's new car, the MKS.

The effort is via UniWorld Group Inc., Ford's AOR for the African American market, parallels a general market campaign via Team Detroit that launched earlier this month. The agency says the thinking was to move away from the traditional 30- and 60-second spots and launch the campaign with a "movie" commercial, debuting on national TV, and later living primarily online.

The film, "MadCrazyLove," shot in Hollywood, Calif., touts the car through a romance story set to the music of Marvin Gaye. The film shows a first encounter at a cocktail party, and takes the couple through the streets and hills of Hollywood and local clubs. The couple drives the MKS, and the ad makes the most of it, focusing on vehicle attributes like the car's dual-panel moon roof, the exterior design of the car, and entertainment and information features like Sirius Travel Link and Ford Sync.

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After debuting on this week's Black Entertainment Television Awards pre show, the movie is at Lincoln.com and Lincolnlounge.com. Accompanying the longer ad are shorter spots using footage from the film. The 15- and 30-second spots will run on cable and nationally syndicated TV. There will also be national print and digital media starting in July.

Thomais Zaremba, Lincoln communications manager, tells Marketing Daily that the three-minute video has a limited TV run--just one night--because consumers are more likely to watch the spot online. "We felt we have a very 'wired' target that spends a lot of time online," she says. "So that will be the primary home for the video." The three-minute spot and shorter ads direct consumers to Lincoln.com.

Brett Wheatley, general marketing manager at Lincoln, says the company is going for a younger buyer than the Ford division pitched for the MKZ, the new car's predecessor. "It's a Gen X customer," he says. "The typical age for Lincoln is around 52, but we feel we can get younger. We think the technology in the vehicle and the price point will appeal to younger buyers. And the creative focuses heavily on that." He says competitive vehicles include Cadillac's STS and Lexus' GS, and Chrysler 300. In addition, per Wheatley, the company is doing consumer events at the 315 Lincoln dealerships that account for 75% of divisional volume.

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