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Matthew McConaughey Lincoln pitches drive on with new MKZ ads

You didn't think a few spoofs were going to break up Lincoln and pitch-man Matthew McConaughey, did you? With more than three million extra free views of Lincoln products on YouTube because of the send-ups – and no one is making fun of the car, remember – the brand rightly concludes, "We couldn't ask for better." That's why the pair are back, this time working on behalf of the MKZ and MKZ Hybrid. The two commercials "Balance" and "Diner" are new, but the formula is the same - cinematic, contemplative, channeling more than a bit of True Detective. They'll hit broadcast channels during college bowl games on New Year's Day. You can watch "Balance" above and "Diner" below, and the press release further down has more details. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Matthew McConaughey Gets Behind Wheel of 2015 Lincoln MKZ in New Ads Airing Jan. 1 - The Lincoln Motor Company teams up again with Academy Award™ winner Matthew McConaughey to create Lincoln MKZ and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid ad campaign that will begin airing during high-profile New Year's Day college football bowl games - Two new TV and online ads will promote Lincoln MKZ and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid midsize sedans, which have given a new direction to the brand with their introduction two years ago - Lincoln's previous collaboration with McConaughey, the "Live in Your Moment" campaign, fueled early sales success of 2015 Lincoln MKC small premium utility DEARBORN, Mich., Dec. 29, 2014 – In the bright spotlight of New Year's Day college football bowl games, The Lincoln Motor Company will launch its newest ad campaign promoting the 2015 Lincoln MKZ and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and featuring Matthew McConaughey. Filmed in a style and tone consistent with last summer's much-talked-about "Live in Your Moment" ads for the first-ever Lincoln MKC, the new campaign brings the attention back to the premium midsize sedan that has been Lincoln's best-selling vehicle since arriving in showrooms two years ago. "The overwhelming response to the MKC campaign sparked truly great awareness for Lincoln," said Andrew Frick, Group Marketing Manager Lincoln. "Matthew's natural storytelling ability perfectly complements the Lincoln story as we continue to raise awareness and drive conversation in creative and unexpected ways.

Why the 2015 Lincoln MKC is 'holding some powder'

Earlier this month in our first drive of the 2015 MKC, we told you that Lincoln finally had a new vehicle in its arsenal worth crowing about. So with the compact premium crossover now finding its way into dealers, why aren't you seeing its likeness plastered on billboards and barraging you on television? It's because Lincoln is "holding some powder."
Those are the words of Lincoln's global director, Matt VanDyke, who tells Autoblog that the company is holstering some of its marketing guns because it's keen to avoid repeating the ill-timed efforts that blighted its last rollout, the MKZ. That vehicle's launch early last year was beset by various delays related to manufacturing and quality. The cadence issue was so dire that by the time the model reached showrooms in volume, Lincoln had already blown most of its budget on things like Super Bowl ads that ran weeks or even months before customers could check one out in person. It was a particularly trying series of events for parent Ford because the MKZ and its oversized marketing spend were charged with relaunching the Lincoln brand to the public.
Keen to avoid repeating the same timing issue and mindful of consumers' habits at this time of year, Lincoln is taking a different strategy with the MKC. According to VanDyke, "What we don't want to do is try and fight the summertime - people using television being down, and other mass media when school's out. New television shows aren't on." Of course, that doesn't mean Lincoln is sitting idle. VanDyke says, "By no means are we quiet during the next 90 days. This year, we're going to really spend the next 60 to 90 days using digital and social media, in-theater advertising and the like, and once we have full availability at dealerships, we'll really ramp up the advertising later on in the summer." Part of that early media effort includes immersive digital marketing like Lincoln's clever Dream Rides web experience.

Dealers mobilize to protect their margins from automaker subscription services

Six individual auto brands — Lincoln, Cadillac, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo — have established or are trialing a vehicle subscription service in the U.S. Three third-party companies — Flexdrive, Clutch and Carma — run brand-agnostic subscription services. And three automakers — Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and General Motors — have also launched short-term rental services. Dealers, afraid of how these trends might affect their margins, are building political and lawmaking campaigns to protect their revenue streams. So far, three states are investigating automaker subscriptions, and Indiana has banned any such service until next year. It's certain that those three states are the first fronts in a long political and legal battle. Powerful dealer franchise laws mandate the existence of dealers and restrict how automakers are allowed to interact with customers to sell a vehicle. On top of that, Bob Reisner, CEO of Nassau Business Funding & Services, said, "Dealers and their associations are among the strongest political operators in many states. They as a group are difficult for state politicians to vote against." In California earlier this year, the state Assembly debated a bill with wide-ranging provisions to protect against what the California New Car Dealers Association called "inappropriate treatment of dealers by manufacturers." One of those provisions stipulated that subscription services need to go through dealers, but that item got stripped out when dealers and manufacturers agreed to discuss the matter further. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a moratorium on all subscription programs by dealers or manufacturers until May 1, 2019, to give legislators more time to investigate. Dealers in New Jersey have taken their campaign to the state capitol, asking that the cars in subscription programs get a different classification for registration purposes. Automakers run the current subscription services and own the vehicles. Sign-ups and financial transactions happen online or through apps, leaving dealers to do little more than act as fulfillment centers to various degrees, with little legal recourse as to compensation amounts when they're called on to deliver or service a car. That's a bad base to build on for business owners who've sunk millions of dollars into their operations.