Stars of the new Lincoln vehicle lineup – and musical stars from the brand's popular television ads – will shine brightly during music's biggest night, the 52nd GRAMMY Awards®, which airs at 8 p.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 31 on CBS.

Continuing with its music-infused advertising, Lincoln will present viewers with unique concert-like commercials for the Lincoln MKZ, Lincoln MKT and Lincoln MKS that integrate seamlessly into the GRAMMY show, featuring the Shiny Toy Guns performing the group's hit rendition of "Major Tom."

The Lincoln ads on GRAMMY night will encourage people to visit www.lincoln.com/music, where they will be able to see the full concert performance of Shiny Toy Guns as well as behind-the-scenes footage from that band and Sia, an Australian pop singer who performs the track for the current Lincoln MKT commercial. They also will be able to listen to music from four up-and-coming artists, vote for the band they think should perform the music for the next Lincoln ad, and check out the latest Lincoln products.

Unique music draws new customers to the Lincoln brand
Lincoln has been using music to draw new, younger customers to the brand since the launch of the Lincoln MKS in 2008.

The soundtracks for the Lincoln commercials, which feature new remakes of popular hits like "Burnin' for You" (featured in Lincoln MKS EcoBoost), "Major Tom (Coming Home)," used with Lincoln MKZ, and "Under the Milky Way," now airing with the new Lincoln MKT, are performed by contemporary new bands to showcase the new cars and crossovers.

If the number of hits on YouTube is any indication, the commercials have been wildly successful. The Lincoln MKZ ad, which features Shiny Toy Guns singing "Major Tom," has received more than 447,000 views and was voted the most popular ad song of the year for 2009 by Adtunes. And Cat Power's version of "Space Oddity," the soundtrack for the Lincoln MKS commercial, has racked up more than 420,000 views.

According to Zaremba, the commercials may also be impacting sales. The brand is attracting new customers, many of whom are coming from other makes. From 2005 to 2009, Lincoln's share of the luxury segment increased 30 percent.

Lincoln: Multicultural appeal
In addition to the innovative Lincoln commercials airing during the GRAMMY telecast, Lincoln also is the official sponsor of the first-ever ESSENCE Black Women in Music event, which will be held today at the Sunset Towers Hotel in Hollywood, Calif., as part of GRAMMY Week.

To commemorate its 40th anniversary, ESSENCE magazine will host a reception honoring nine-time GRAMMY winner Mary J. Blige. The invitation-only, red-carpet event will fete the career and accomplishments of Blige as an influential artist, successful entrepreneur and passionate philanthropist.

As part of the sponsorship, Lincoln will have two 2010 Lincoln MKS vehicles on display, a custom advertorial honoring the top GRAMMY picks in ESSENCE magazine, and inclusion in the event's recap story both inside ESSENCE magazine and online at www.essence.com.

Awareness of the Lincoln brand continues to grow within the African American market, particularly as it relates to African American women.

The current Lincoln vehicle lineup has received positive sentiment from African American women in recent ESSENCE Music Festival qualitative research. According to that research, the women associate characteristics such as "modern" and "stylish" with the new Lincoln nameplates, and express willingness to consider the brand's vehicles with the knowledge that all the amenities they seek can be found on Lincoln vehicles.

Lincoln's sponsorship of the ESSENCE Black Women in Music event comes on the heels of the brand's recent sponsorship of the 2009 ESSENCE Music Festival in New Orleans.

Quotes
"The GRAMMY Awards bring out music lovers who are not only looking for cool music but also up-and-coming bands. We are giving this audience what they tuned in for."
– Connie Fontaine, Brand Content and Alliances Manager, Ford Motor Company

"This is our way of introducing Lincoln to a new audience who may not be aware that we have a relevant product offering for them. We hope they'll give us some of their time and interact with us as we educate them on who Lincoln is today."
– Thomais Zaremba, Lincoln Marketing Communications Manager

"These are songs that Generation Xers – one of Lincoln's primary audiences – are familiar with, but they've been redone in fresh new voices that really grab attention. The new twist on these classics is really symbolic of the fresh new Lincoln showroom that we have."
– Thomais Zaremba, Lincoln Marketing Communications Manager

"Lincoln has grown share over the past couple of years, and we're gaining conquest customers," said Zaremba. "That's attributable to the fantastic new products we've put on the showroom floor, and if the popularity of the Lincoln music videos is any indication, the advertising is helping as well."
– Thomais Zaremba, Lincoln Marketing Communications Manager

"We are extremely excited and honored to be a part of the first-ever ESSENCE Black Women in Music event. Music has always played a key role in how we've worked to increase awareness of the Lincoln brand within the urban market. To be part of an event that allows us to further this strategy, and to do so tied to an event honoring a musical artist of Mary J. Blige's status is incredible."
– Crystal Worthem, Lincoln Multicultural Marketing Manager