Ford Motor Co. rolls out multichannel mobile campaign

By Giselle Tsirulnik

October 8, 2008

Ford Motor Co. has launched a mobile ad campaign designed to unveil its new 2009 Lincoln MKS.

The campaign is running within Transpera's network of mobile content sites, including AP Mobile News Network and CBS Mobile News. The campaign began Oct.6 and will end Dec.15.

"In terms of the media mix, mobile is considered a communication channel just as much as television and the Internet," said Brian Bos, SVP Convergence Director, Mindshare|Team Detroit.

"In the case of the Lincoln MKS, technological features, such as the in-vehicle communications and entertainment system, line up well with the demographic of the mobile video consumer, which is the most affluent and tech savvy of mobile phone users," he said.

The campaign uses a combination of ad units such as display banners, mobile video segments that run 15 seconds and overlay graphics which appear on the video content being watched by the mobile user for a brief period.

The pre-rolls are targeted based on content usage and demographics.

The Lincoln MKS campaign is aimed at a technologically astute and connected audience with a message for them to "Boot Up," "Lift Off" and "Reach Higher."

The display banners link to Ford's mobile site at http://m.lincoln.com/mks.

Once there, consumers can download content such as photos, wallpapers and vehicle designer videos, sign up for SMS alerts and find a dealer.

The pre-roll mobile video units are stitched to the video content selected by the user.

The overlay image is a graphic and text that represents the company and product. It appears overlaid on top of the video during play.

The overlay appears several seconds into playback in the lower third of the screen and then fades several seconds after appearing. The video ad and overlay are not clickable within this campaign.

"Most marketers are just beginning to understand how mobile is, or will, impact their business," Mr. Bos said. "However, we see this medium as having immediate impact across all tiers of the business and great potential for future growth.

"Mobile is poised, globally, to become the largest one-to-one marketing medium of all time and we're still in the early evolutionary stages of using this medium as a way to connect, and add value, to consumers," he said.

According to a recent Nielsen report, 91 million Americans (36 percent of all mobile phone subscribers in the United States) own a video-capable phone.

In addition, 95 million persons (37 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers) subscribed to mobile Internet as part of their wireless data plan in Q1 2008, a significant platform for mobile video consumption.

"Transpera provides a comprehensive solution for monetizing mobile video, which includes powering and deploying mobile video services for some of the most recognized entertainment brands in the industry -- AccuWeather.com, Associated Press, CBS News, Break, MTV Networks," Mr. Bos said.

"Transpera's Advertising Platform delivers the campaign across selected mobile sites within their content network, in this case AP Mobile News Network and CBS Mobile News, and will be responsible for tracking and reporting as well," he said.