Lincoln launches multimedia effort for MKZ Hybrid

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2013 Lincoln MKZThe Lincoln brand will target luxury competitors such as Lexus in a new campaign that launched 10/9. The effort, which spans television, radio, print and digital, will run at least through the end of the year.


The luxury brand highlights attributes like fuel economy on its Lincoln MKZ Hybrid sedan, and high-end features such as a retractable panoramic roof against competing vehicles like the Lexus ES.

“These are definitely more pointed and tactical in their nature,” Jon Pearce, EVP/chief creative officer of Hudson Rouge, Lincoln’s ad agency, told The Detroit News. “We’ve tried to make spots that display some rational proof points for Lincoln.”

The new MKZ, which debuted earlier this year, has set monthly sales records in five of the last six months and has overtaken the Navigator full-size SUV as Lincoln’s best-known nameplate. But sales for the brand overall are down 6.3% this year and through September have not broken through the 60,000 sales mark.

In the TV ads, the Lincoln cars will be “interviewed” by couples looking to buy a luxury vehicle. The cars will be prodded with questions about fuel economy and high-end features and will “respond” through text that appears above the vehicles. The competing vehicles that are “interviewed” refuse to answer the couples’ questions or sheepishly try to change the subject.

Lincoln believes that by focusing more on individual nameplates, it can better connect with potential buyers. In recent ads, including a 30-second spot that aired during the Super Bowl in February, Lincoln focused on the new MKZ midsize sedan, but also on the Lincoln name and the history and popular vehicles behind it.

See The Detroit News story here.