Yesterday, they announced a new marketing initiative being put together by the WPP group that will be based in New York.
Okay, nothing earth shattering there. Everybody changes agencies whether they need to or not when they're in rebuilding mode.
What interested me most in this article in Ad Age is that they are planning on launching seven new vehicles in the near future. So it appears that they've taken the resources that were deployed on Volvo, Aston Martin and Jaguar and have invested them in Lincoln.
Excellent.
Ford has done a terrific job with it's blue oval branded products. The Focus that my son just bought is a really nice car. How do I know? We shopped them all: Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, Honda Civic, Mazda 3 and the Chevrolet Cruze (you can thank me for not subjecting you to that process). The interesting thing was his decision came down to the Cruze and the Focus. What tipped the scale for him were the dealer experience and he felt the Focus was a little sportier.
I can't wait to see what Ford has planned for Lincoln and what niche they want to own in the luxury market. It's a crowded space. While BMW and Audi remain almost invincible, there are chinks appearing in the armor of brands like Lexus, Mercedes, and Volvo.
In my mind, this is the automotive story to watch in 2012.
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And then they need desperately to alter Lincoln's godawful front end DNA. The front end of all Lincolns is becoming like a joke that doesn't make me laugh at all and never has. Luckily, their future look design-wise is a good improvement. But you're right: they can make a difference now only if they position the brand properly - something they last did (and only marginally so) with the Navigator aimed at pimpin' homies and athletes, or the pimps and athletes at heart.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, Matt. I had that in my first draft of this post, but I didn't want to get too specific. Their design language is awful. Here's to hoping that's been on the agenda.
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