NEW YORK -

Lincoln dipped deep into the history of the brand to come up with its latest advertising push, revealed Monday, and industry analysts lauded the move as a "step in the right direction" for the brand.

The advertising campaign, which will hit print, television and digital mediums, is called, "Introducing the Lincoln Motor Company."

Lincoln was first introduced to the public at the Lincoln Motor Co. in 1922, when Edsel Ford signed the agreement purchasing the company from its founder Henry Leland, officials shared. 

By reintroducing "The Lincoln Motor Company," the company aims to capture the “founding principles of the company” and bring “them forward to a new generation of progressive luxury buyers.”

The new campaign, which launched Monday, features the all-new MKZ premium midsize sedan and MKZ Hybrid. They will be arriving in dealerships by the end of the month.

The "Introducing the Lincoln Motor Company" theme will be carried across print, broadcast, digital media and Lincoln's own online platforms.

Commenting on the campaign, Matt VanDyke, director of Global Lincoln Brand, said, "Befitting this new chapter in the life of Lincoln we are making a complete new start in every aspect of consumer communication to emotionally welcome our new target customer into our brand.

"It's not often this opportunity comes around so we intend to make the most of it and have our work in every medium be as fresh, surprising and distinctive as the new Lincoln vehicles and customer experiences will be,” he added.

The new ad spots aim to stress the importance of luxury as well "evoke what has historically made Lincoln stand apart in the luxury category, while using the new MKZ as the face of the reinvented brand," officials shared.

Industry Response

As Lincoln announced a new ad campaign in an effort to revitalize its nameplate, industry analysts lauded the brand's new spots as a "step in the right direction," while also sharing a few hurdles the brand must address.

Over at Kelley Blue Book, senior market analyst Alec Gutierrez, said the brand relaunch should be viewed as a positive step for the company, and may put them more in line with competition from General Motors' Cadillac brand.

"I think overall, the relaunch of the Lincoln brand should be viewed as a positive reaction. I think it has to do with the fact that Ford has paid a lot of attention to revitalizing their namesake and the Ford brand itself … We have gotten a new Focus and Fusion and the all new Fiesta and the ST … I think maybe what they’ve done with Lincoln in the past couple of years perhaps hasn’t resonated quite so well with consumers and hasn’t been a big enough departure from where Lincoln was prior to 2008 and the financial crisis,"  Gutierrez explained.

That said, Gutierrez noted Lincoln is getting "back on track."

"I think that what they are doing is certainly a step in the right direction, especially with what has been coming out of GM with Cadillac and the lot of the improved products they have been pushing out … I think it is a good move for Lincoln, starting with the new MKZ, which is a positive move on their behalf and will help to position themselves more competitively in this ever-shifting landscape of the luxury segment," he said.

"There may have been some product shortcomings in the past, but they are putting themselves in the position to overcome some of those challenges," Gutierrez added.

While the campaign may be a step in the right direction for the brand, TrueCar vice president of market intelligence Jesse Toprak cautions brand image is not easily changed.

That said, the analyst contends the brand is offering consumers "the best products they have ever had."

"They (Lincoln) had to do something ; that’s for sure. Their buyers and demographics are some of the oldest in the industry. And although they tend to do OK in the middle of the country, they struggle in areas that really matter for luxury sales, which are the metropolitan or coastal areas like San Francisco, LA, New York, Miami," Toprak said.

"They don’t do well at all there, because these markets buy image, and they don’t really even care about the product that much … they just want to drive the Mercedes or the BMW," he added.

But Lincoln seems to be on a mission to challenge this accepted norm in most metro areas.
 
"So, what do you about it? It’s an uphill battle, that's for sure. To convince a BMW buyer to even take a look at a Lincoln is a challenge. Its not impossible, but it's tough. The campaign is a step in the right direction, and their products are actually the best they have ever had," Toprak said.

"But the image still remains the biggest obstacle for the brand, so they’ve got to do something to start, and they’ve got to do a lot of grassroots work in luxury markets and big cities and try to improve the image," he added. "It isn’t going to happen this year or next year … changing the image of a brand is at least a decade long struggle, and that’s assuming they do everything right."