Ford launched new high-tech animated advertising campaign for the 2008 Mercury Mariner

The 2008 Mercury Mariner – the nameplate that has helped put Mercury back on consumers’ consideration list – is arriving in dealerships this month supported by an ad campaign designed to build on its momentum of attracting new, younger, and more diverse customers to the Mercury brand.

 “The Mariner is a very important vehicle to our line-up as it has proven to be very effective in attracting new customers to the Mercury brand. The latest sales data shows more than a 48 percent conquest rate for the Mercury Mariner* and that it has been well-received among a diverse range of consumers.”

Cutting-edge advertising opens new dimensions

More than 50 percent of Mercury Mariner customers are female, compared with 40 percent female customers for the overall Mercury brand.* In addition, the average Mercury Mariner customer is younger than the average Mercury customer: age 47 v. age 55.*

To appeal to these consumers, Mercury created an ad campaign that employs sophisticated photography techniques and draws the eye to the Mariner’s contemporary design. The first TV spot for the 2008 Mercury Mariner, titled “Sound Waves,” opens with Mercury spokesperson Jill Wagner posing the question, “What happens when an idea strikes just the right note?” Wagner taps the Mercury logo and sound waves reverberate and take shape in the form of the Mercury Mariner. The image then comes into focus to highlight the new design features of the vehicle, both inside and out.

The TV spots are produced by Tight Films and directed by The Brothers Strause, an award-winning team whose latest credits include VFX Supervision on the movies, “300,” the “X-Men: The Last Stand,” and the Academy-Award winning “Titanic.” Hydraulx, a special effects company owned by The Brothers Strause, researched particle and fluid movement and created their own computer code to generate the sound wave effect in the first Mariner spot.

Two additional TV spots, also directed by The Brothers Strause, are planned to begin airing in April. A similar creative approach will be carried through to the online ad campaign, which also is slated to begin in April.