Monday, November 22, 2004

Mercury - Meet The Lucky Ones - 825,000 uniques in 2 weeks

Mercury's 'Meet The Lucky Ones' Attracts Record Number of Visitors to Brand's WebsiteFriday November 19, 9:01 am ET
DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Just two weeks into its five-week run, Mercury's interactive website experience with an independent film flair, "Meet The Lucky Ones," has attracted more than 825,000 unique visitors to the brand's website, mercuryvehicles.com. This is more than three times the average number of monthly visitors to the site and demonstrates the outstanding success of the initiative as a new way for the Mercury brand to connect with consumers.
Since the November 1, 2004 launch of "Meet The Lucky Ones," the latest expression of Mercury's New Doors Opened marketing campaign, there have been more than 290,000 unique visitors to meettheluckyones.com. Demonstrating the marketing power of "Meet The Lucky Ones," more than 64,000 visitors have gone to the Mariner section of the website to learn more about the vehicle (with each unique visitor viewing an average of 7.6 pages in the Mariner section). In addition, more than 23,000 opt-in email addresses have been collected from individuals seeking more information about "Meet The Lucky Ones."
The results to date of "Meet The Lucky Ones" demonstrate that not only has the brand's website received more visitors than ever before but also, once visitors arrive at the website, they are stimulated to delve deeper into the website content to learn more about Mercury vehicles and give greater consideration to a possible vehicle purchase.
"Meet The Lucky Ones," a story written and produced with an independent film sensibility about the often-comic misadventures of a quirky, slightly dysfunctional family that unfolds over a five-week period, is a breakthrough undertaking for Mercury -- a major automotive brand -- because vehicles are not the main focus of the project
"Meet The Lucky Ones" was created to make a statement to a group of primarily younger consumers by virtue of commissioning and presenting content such as this, with the goal being an immediate impact on how these prospective car buyers perceive Mercury. With more than two thirds of new car purchases researched on the Internet, Mercury understands this is an essential channel to communicate with its target consumers.
"We are very pleased with the early success of "Meet The Lucky Ones," which is helping the Mercury brand reach a greater number of more diverse consumers," said John Fitzpatrick, Lincoln Mercury general marketing manager. "These early results support our strategic decision to dedicate nearly 25 percent of the New Doors Opened total marketing communications budget to digital marketing and customer relationship events."
Mercury's recently re-launched website, mercuryvehicles.com, centers on the sense of discovery and treats viewers to a journey of exploration and story telling. The site includes virtual 3D tours and video demonstrations of the new 2005 Mercury Mariner and Montego as well as a Mercury Montego "Capacity Challenge" web game and a desktop application highlighting Mercury's 66-year-old history. In addition, four "experiential modules" will also be created for Mariner, Montego, Mountaineer and Monterey. In much the same spirit as "Meet The Lucky Ones," these experientials will be an engaging and powerful way to communicate product innovations and strengthen brand image with consumers.
Entertainment Industry Notables Take on the Automotive World
For the New Doors Opened campaign, Mercury formed collaborative relationships with best-in-class creative talents from the entertainment industry to bring a new point of view to automotive consumers. Grammy winners, artist Paula Cole and producer Don Was were given creative freedom in crafting the musical component of the recently released New Doors Opened ads.
For this ambitious project, "Meet The Lucky Ones," Mercury and its agency, Wunderman Detroit, again turned to entertainment industry innovators. Creator Kirt Gunn brought together a team of top talent, including: Director, Derek Cianfrance -- 2003 Sundance Film Festival Award Winner for Best Cinematography, Quattro Noza; Executive Producers Jon Kamen and Greg Schultz of @radical media -- Producer of the 2004 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature, Fog of War and of Fade to Black; Writer, Ed Herbstman -- Da Ali G Show, Creative Consultants, Mother New York, and Musical Composer, Stephin Merritt -- The Magnetic Fields.
About Mercury
Mercury is a brand of the Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., which manufactures and distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With more than 328,000 employees worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive-related services include Ford Credit, Quality Care and Hertz. Ford Motor Company celebrated its 100th anniversary on June 16, 2003.
Source: Lincoln Mercury


Jeep 4x4 Challenge Game wins award

The Jeep(R) 4x4 Trail Rated Challenge Lauded as Exceptional Experience by OrganicFriday November 19, 1:00 pm ET
Jeep 'Edutainment' Site Wins Broad Industry Recognition
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Organic, Inc., a leading web marketing services firm, has awarded its quarterly Exceptional Experience Award to the team that developed the Jeep® 4x4 Trail Rated Challenge site. The award recognizes creativity and innovation and honors sites created for Organic clients. The winning team receives a bonus of $25,000.
The Organic Exceptional Experience Award
Organic defines an Exceptional Experience as taking the leap from the ordinary to the exceptional by leading users through an online experience that not only works well, but is also emotionally appealing. An Exceptional Experience is built on a clear recognition of a customer need, inspired by a single big idea, and showcases the brand in a thoughtful way. It engages and delights the user while delivering the desired business results. Any Organic-developed online experience is eligible for the award, including an online marketing campaign, a website, an Intranet, a micro-site, a kiosk interface, an interactive game, and a rich media email campaign. The awards program is judged by a panel of both internal and external judges and awards are granted once a quarter. Last quarter's winner was Tommy Hilfiger's Tommy Kids site available at www.tommy.com/kids.
"At Organic we are committed to delivering exceptional experiences for our clients and for our clients' customers," said Mark Kingdon, CEO of Organic. "We are proud to put our 'money-where-our-mouth-is' and recognize teams that push themselves to deliver exceptional work that creatively addresses complex marketing and business challenges."
"We're thrilled with the Jeep Trail Rated Challenge site and have received positive feedback from consumers and the industry," said Jay Kuhnie, Director Jeep Brand Communications. "It successfully achieves our goal of educating individuals about Jeep vehicle capabilities in a fun and engaging way while also educating them about our commitment to safety. We're pleased with the work that the Organic team did for us."
The Jeep® Trail Rated Challenge
The Jeep® Trail Rated Challenge is an online "edutainment" game that teaches consumers about on-road and off-road Jeep vehicle safety features and safe driving tips. This online experience is unique for the automotive industry. The Go 4x4 Challenge presents a variety of driving scenarios, within a gaming format, to teach Jeep vehicle owners and prospects about maneuvering safely through challenging conditions such as deep water, snow, and sand. To ensure that the safety features were portrayed accurately, the Organic team worked closely with Jeep Marketing, Product Planning, Engineering, Legal, and Product Safety to develop the site.
"Delivering Jeep's educational message in a fun and compelling online edutainment format engaged users and forged a deep connection with current and future Jeep owners," said Chuck Russo, Vice President and Managing Director of Organic Detroit, the office responsible for the creation of the Jeep Go 4x4 Site. "Our team has been working on the Jeep online experience for over five years and I'm proud that we continue to produce exceptional award-winning work."
The Go 4x4 Award-Winning Program
In recent months, the Jeep Trail Rated Challenge site has received nine industry awards including recognition from Macromedia, NY Festivals, Caddy Awards, International Web Page Awards, Automation Alley, and the Web Marketing Association.
To take the Jeep 4x4 Trail Rated Challenge, visit http://www.jeep.com/4x4 and click on "Take the Challenge."
Only in a Jeep®
Freedom, adventure, mastery, authenticity and the capability to go anywhere are the hallmarks of the Jeep® brand worldwide. It is a reputation earned during more than six decades of SUV leadership. Jeep brand sales are up 17 percent year-over-year in 2004 (through April), with four new models being introduced this year. The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is now available in dealerships, while the all-new 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Liberty Renegade and Jeep Liberty Diesel launch later this year. Jeep Trail Rated® communicates the legendary Jeep capability that is designed into every Jeep 4x4. As the brand's lineup expands, Jeep branded vehicles will continue to be what they have always been -- the most capable.
About Organic, Inc.
Organic creates exceptional online experiences for Fortune 1000 clients by delivering comprehensive web development and interactive marketing programs that drive more profitable customer relationships. Established in 1993, Organic specializes in clients with high involvement products and services for clients such as Chrysler Group, Sprint PCS, Washington Mutual, Tommy Hilfiger, and CIBC. Organic has offices located in San Francisco, Detroit, Toronto, and New York. For more information, please visit www.organic.com.
Organic, Inc. is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC - News; www.omnicomgroup.com). Omnicom is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.
Source: Organic, Inc.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

New Citroen C4 Site - includes cool TV ad

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

German Renault Megane Viral Pop up

Megane better then Golf. Film can be forwarded at the end.