Viewers got a surprise from Lincoln during commercial breaks for the 51st Grammy Awards, yesterday on CBS as it debuted winners from its "Project Rising Stars: Lincoln Video Music Challenge."
Lincoln and its creative agency, Y&R Team Detroit, created "Project Rising Stars" in collaboration with Gary Calamar — renowned KCRW-FM LA DJ and Grammy-nominated producer and music supervisor. The team selected 10 songs from some of the country’s top emerging music artists and developed a music video-based competition in partnership with Filmaka, an online community for filmmakers and other artists, to create their own original content.
More than 300 submissions were received from hopeful writers and directors seeking to showcase their own creative videos featuring the all-new 2009 Lincoln MKS. The quality of work delivered from entrants throughout the country was so positive that Lincoln — a co-sponsor of the show — decided to air five 30-second trailers of the top original music videos during the Grammys rather than traditional vehicle ads.
"What we’ve learned from research is that the Lincoln MKS is attracting a new group of buyers that are tough to reach with traditional advertising. They’re into technology, film and a wide array of music," said Thomais Zaremba, Lincoln Mercury Communications Manager. "This opportunity is a great way to create fresh content and put Lincoln in front of a new audience."
Following the Grammys, viewers were able to watch the five winning videos — and several additional videos — in their entirety at www.cbs.com/lincoln.
At the end of the day, Zaremba says "Project Rising Starts" follows an entirely fresh marketing campaign for MKS that represents a new way of communicating for Lincoln.
