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We will lay out the current associations for the Lincoln brand and its three major

competitors. After that we will present a SWOT Analysis of the brand and follow that with

a description of the brand building needs forLincoln.|

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See Exhibit-1 for brand association maps

Lincoln

Lincoln was used to represent an American dignified and luxurious lifestyle. With a

strong association to the Presidential image, Lincoln was a link with authority, power and

sophistication.But its core consumers, baby boomers, are aging and the brand is

struggling to redefine itself. Although consumers today still associate Lincoln with its

erstwhile prestige image, its desirability has fallen tremendously in the luxury segment.

Recently Lincoln was linked to rap culture because of the Navigator model that was

ubiquitous in rap-videos and as the ride of many rich, black Americans.

Cadillac

After its re-branding in 1997, Cadillac transformed itself from a conventional luxury

image to an edgy and active one. Cadillac¶s marketing campaigns have consistently

concentrated on a sporty and explosive message. In its advertisements, Cadillac

successfully delivers its strong performing image to consumers looking for a thrilling

experience. Recent product placements and advertisementshave created the image of

youth, pop-culture and edgy.

Lexus

Lexus has the strongest female friendly perception within luxury segment. The brand,
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however, is able to have dual direction with its association. On one hand it has an urban,

innovative, elegant and stylish lifestyle associationand on the other a strong association

with mom, family, protection, and comfort. Its variety of model choices and import-quality

identity has established higher standard and value-added image for consumers. The

brand also considered to be environmental friendly and has strong link with hybrid.

Infiniti

Like its marketing theme, ³inspired performance´, Infiniti is able to promote a theme that

young luxury-car consumer can enjoy the excitement of driving without sacrificing

sociable and trendy character. With marketing campaigns that concentrate on young and

sporty lifestyle, Infinity has successfully reached its desirable awareness with one of the

youngest consumer bases in the entry luxury segment. As a result, Infiniti is able to

different itself from competitors by focusing on young, dynamic, and fun consumers who

would like a luxury image vehicle to be identified among its social group. Although

consumers do not directly compare Infiniti to other sporty luxury brands like BMW, such

as BMW, Infiniti has received recognition of performance driving with younger luxury-car

consumers.
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||see Exhibit-2 for SWOT Analysis|

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Combining the current association and SWOT analysis of the Lincoln brand, we can lay

out is current brand-pyramid (Exhibit-3Î and explain the future brand-building needs.

Spontaneous Awareness

As one of the oldest luxury brands in the market, Lincoln still enjoys high spontaneous
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awareness of its brand. Unfortunately, the awareness does not transfer to brand

recognition as consumer knows little about Lincoln besides its name. Moreover, the

awareness it generates is that of a traditional and old-fashion car driven by grandparents.

Lincoln can utilize its high awareness to market a halo-product to restore its brand value.

Perceived Technical Quality

Although Lincoln has consistently maintained the manufacturing quality it delivers, the

old-fashion styling and perception has destroyed any notion of technical quality it once

enjoyed. Furthermore, Lincoln¶s top 3 perceived qualities, i.e. comfort, durability, and

family-oriented do not align with consumers¶ functional needs within entry-luxury

segment. By leveraging the technological advances in automotive consumer electronics

that its parent Ford delivers Lincoln can move towards a younger generation that heavily

relies on technology, and hence grow its perceived technical quality.

Leadership Reputation

Lincoln has lost its erstwhile leadership reputation in style and comfort. Seen more as a

stodgy car with no product attribute that is unique and own-able, it is critical for Lincoln to

return to its leadership position by picking a luxury-automotive attribute that does not

exist in today¶s entry-luxury market.

Trust/Confidence

Consumers used to trust the brand as the flagship of American luxury. Over the past

thirty years, however, imports are considered better luxury vehicles and are more able to

engender trust in product than Lincoln. To gain the trust and confidence of the

consumers Lincoln will have to work, slowly but surely, to deliver desirable models and

upgrade them regularly.

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Relevant Association/Imagery

The brand has lost any association with premium but maintains a strong American

association. Imagery is today associated with old and boring animals like camels and

Rhinos! Lincoln needs to pick a brand image that resonates with today¶s lifestyle choices

and hammer it home with product and images..

Loyalty/Bonding

Consumers, especially after financial crisis, are closer to be pragmatic now than ever.

Therefore, Lincoln must demonstrate that it not only understand what consumers within

the entry-luxury segment need, but also be able to fulfill their needs to gain their bonding,

and ultimately, the loyalty. Moreover, by more concentrating on mainstream needs, such

as performance, appearance, and consumer electronics features Lincoln can gain loyalty

as more and more consumers value the simplicity and pragmatism of its attributes.
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Primary Research

Our focus group consisted of individuals who were very interested in cars and follow the

trends in the automotive industry and car buyers not interested in the luxury market.

Though very few actually owned a luxury car at this point in time, most aspired to own

one in the near future. The focus group was very helpful in understanding the functional,

emotional and self-expressive needs of the luxury car aspirants. Some of the functional

needs that all the participants in the focus group unanimously agreed on were that a

luxury car must have performance, as defined by horse power and acceleration, and

appearance as defined by body and interior styling. The most prominent emotional

needs were, prestige, importance, pampered and that the car should catch the eye of the

beholder. Most of the respondents felt that foreign brands had more prestige and

credibility as a luxury brand than an American car. They also felt that it was important to

own the latest car in the market and most of them would change their car every 2-3 years

if possible. As for the self-expressive needs, there was a prominent two way divide,

some of them felt that they want to be perceived as aggressive, successful and confident

and the others would like to be perceived as sophisticated, intelligent and social. There

was also a divide in the people who wanted to show off their luxury and another group

would not want to show-off. The group unanimous agreed that the luxury car is a

personal effect and that they would not want to share it with anyone else. Lastly, as

echoed by interviewees, dealers had mentioned that the customers they encounter

already have a brand preference before they arrive at the showroom; they know what
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they want and the luxury car customers are generally well informed about their choices.

Secondary Research

For our secondary research we primarily relied on the Choices-III (C3Î database. We

also referred some reports on the automobile industry. C3 had specific inputs on the

customer needs, while the other reports and databases segmented the customer based

primarily on price. These broadly classify the customers as high-end, mid-level and entry

category. We used the choices three database to arrive at the needs of the customers.

We relied on the index of each of the ³need attribute´ to determine the relative

importance of the particular attribute for the customer. The C3 surveys showed that the

most prominent functional needs of the luxury car customers were ³Engine Horse Power,

Options and Appearance.The most important emotional attributes were ³Prestige, feeling

of driving the latest car in the market and the car should draw attention of people´. The

most prominent self-expressive needs were to be perceived as ³Sophisticated and

Gracious:´ followed by ³Self-Assured and Confident´ then followed by ³Aggressive,

Dominant and powerful´ and finally ³Intelligent and Smart´.

Based on our analysis we categorized our customers into ten different segments. There

is a clear overlap in the needs of the customers in these categories. We found that in all

these segments the customers want the most prominent need attributes described

above, but the combination of these needs makes them distinct. (Annexure - Î

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Please see Exhibit-4 for complete segmentation and description of drivers.

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III.  | |
 

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Based on our analysis in the segmentation section, we decided to target following three

customer segments for the future brand strategy of Lincoln.

1. Independent, Successful, and Naughty: imaging ³3
 

2. Sophisticated, suave, smooth-operator:

 

3. Tech-savvy, fast, in thought and action, intelligent, practical: 

Although BMW and Mercedes scored well on each segment analysis, we eliminated both

BMW and Mercedes for following analyses because Lincoln is not directly competing

with them. BMW and Mercedes are positioned in high-level luxury segment, unlike

Lincoln that is positioned in entry-level luxury segment. We decided to pursue following

three consumer segments because they are the top three rated segments by people

based on our segment analysis.


   
 

The current market leading brands of this customer segment are Audi and Lexus. This

segment appeals to Lincoln because the most of consumers in this segment are young

and successful enough to buy a luxury car. This is attractive segment to Lincoln whose

current customers are aging baby boomers. And Lincoln needs to replace them in order

to reestablish its brand.



 



Even though Mercedes is the current leading brand, we decided to pursue this segment

because this is new image that we want to create within Lincoln brand. Although there

are significant gaps between Mercedes and Lincoln, Lincoln is not far behind from the
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segment¶s second best leader Lexus in needs based analysis. We want to enhance

current Lincoln¶s position.

  

 
  

 
 
 

Audi is the current leading brand in this segment. This segment appeals to Lincoln

because Lincoln¶s core competency, leveraging Ford¶s strengths, is well matched with

this segment. Lincoln¶s technology inside the car can win this segment¶s customer who

loves technology inside the car, not necessarily to do with the performance. Also this

segment¶s customers are the young and up- coming professionals too. (Exhibit-5 and

Exhibit-6Î

On the contrary, we decided not to pursue µFlashy and Loud¶ segment because Lincoln¶s

core competency is not well match with the segment¶s love of speed and acceleration.

µVery Rich and Love to show that off¶ and µVery Rich, Aggressive and Love to show off

their Position¶ segments are not lined with Lincoln¶s entry-level luxury segment. Lincoln

cannot satisfy their high-level luxury customers who want to drive Rolls Royce or BMW.

Current Lincoln also cannot fulfill consumers of µQuiet, Private and Conservative¶

segment. They want to drive a luxury car because they deserve one and but not to

show-off, and lay high importance on performance of the car, which are not strengths of

Lincoln. µArrogant & Aggressive¶ is not also pursuable to Lincoln because Lincoln¶s

strength is not based on high horsepower and fast driving. Lastly, we decided not to

pursue µTraditional and Family Oriented¶ even though Lincoln is current leader in this

segment because of its association with old, boring and slow.

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In 2009, there is a $960MM luxury car market in U.S, mostly dominated by foreign

brands1. Even though luxury car markets are still recovering from economic recession,
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two trends have started to stir 2010 U.S. luxury car markets: a smaller size luxury car

and a hybrid luxury car. Historically, U.S. luxury consumers did not even look at the small

luxury car. And exchange rates made cars¶ price too high, so dealers opposed to sell it.

However, U.S. government¶s new focus on µfuel efficiency and CO2 emissions that affect

weight and size¶ encourages luxury brands to downsize cars2. Due to the regulation,

BMW is µconsidering selling a front-drive car slotted below the 1 series. And Mercedes

may offer its next-generation B class too. Audi also say they're watching the trends and

considering similar vehicles¶2. This new trend is a new price segment for luxury brands

and will attract younger future luxury car buyers, who want to save money for the car and

to save fuel costs.3 For Lincoln this is a great opportunity to generate its brand

awareness among younger luxury car buyers. This is important for Lincoln because baby

boomers, current Lincoln¶s consumers and Lincoln brand¶s weakness, rather trade down

to a non-luxury crossover than downsize to small luxury cars when they become

empty-nesters3. This new emerging trend also well matched with our targeted segments

because many of young luxury car buyers are tend to 
  

  
 

 

and   

 
 



 
 
 

Another trend is a hybrid luxury car. Foreign luxury brands had long doubted that µU.S.

consumers really wanted to buy hybrids and electrics¶4. But now they are changing their

doubt and developing the hybrid vehicles for U.S. luxury markets. Because U.S. fuel

economy regulations are getting stricter throughout the states. For example, California

standards µwill make it harder for any large carmakers without a zero-emissions vehicle

to do business¶ in California, the biggest car market in the U.S.4 And a luxury car is not an
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exception. The Mercedes already started to sell S400 in the U.S. They will also roll out

the ML SUV hybrid and S500 plug-in electric, which can get more than 60 mpg. BMW

also launched hybrid versions of the 7 series and X6. Audi has µall promised a hybrid

SUV/crossover within two years¶.4 Unfortunately, Choice 3 uses the data up to 2008 and

does not capture this new trend yet. However, this is the market in U.S. that does not

have a clear winner and a low entry barrier, if the brand has enough money to invest.

This is Lincoln¶s great potential market to go after one of possible   


 
  

 
 
 segments.

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For 
     
 segment, Lincoln needs to create new

image to capture young and successful consumers who prefer a car that suits their work

personality but also has a youthful and trend appearance. A new halo product is great

way to create new brand image. Currently, Lincoln is promoting with new grilled design in

entire Lincoln product portfolio. But this design is not trendy enough and not appearing

much in this segment. In order to create an attractive halo product, Lincoln needs to

recruit better car designers who understand this segment¶s need. At the same time,

Lincoln needs to not interfering new designers¶ work within the company, especially

interference of top managements who tend to have business mindset and not enough

trendy design perspective. Joining prestige car-racing such as F1 will also capture the

attention of this segment¶s consumers. Since this consumers are not necessarily very

rich nor in a very powerful position, but are poised to reach there, they will enjoy

Lincoln¶s challenge and underdog attitude to other established luxury brands.

For 

   

 segment, Lincoln needs to focus on

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capturing the attention of sophisticated luxury consumers, since Lincoln has not pursued

this segment before. Increasing co-branding with other high-end product brands of

different industries, preferred by this segment¶s consumers, will enhance Lincoln¶s

opportunities to increase its awareness. Having sponsorships with high-end communities

and sports events, such as tennis and golf, will also create opportunities too. When

Lincoln uses these approaches, Lincoln has to send a unified consistent message:

Lincoln is for a person who would like to be perceived as sophisticated.

For   

 
  

 
 
  segment, Lincoln needs

to advertise its strength more aggressively. Lincoln already has topnotch car interior

technology including IT, but customers are not currently aware of this. Lincoln needs to

do more than just airing its ads on TV and papers. Product placement in movie is one

way to improve Lincoln¶s awareness. But characteristics of movie or a character in a

movie have to be well matched with Lincoln¶s tech-savvy image.(Exhibit-7 and

Exhibit-8Î
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As was seen in the previous section, Lincoln needs a brand-building strategy to move

the brand from its current associations to the needed associations.


    
 

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To achieve each specific needed association, Lincoln should undertake the following

tactics. Each of these tactics enforces a needed association and negates a current one.

Product - Halo Product

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

Lincoln needs to raise its awareness in the marketplace manifold. They should start with

a Halo car that showcases aggressive outer styling and technologically savvy but sleek

interiors. Similar to the strategies used by Audi (A4Î and Cadillac (CTSÎ, Lincoln¶s halo

car will alter their old image by creating a new, very visible product that shakes up

consumers¶ perceptions and draws them into the showroom. This product will leverage

Ford¶s experience with making cars that appeal to the European drivability, use their

Eco-boost engines to deliver a light but powerful car, design an interior that resembles
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the interior of the spaceship USS Enterprise and an external design that is aggressive

and bullish rather than the older cavernous design. Specifically, the consumer

technologies in this halo car will feature one-touch controls, radars, artificial intelligence

interaction embedded to deliver the futuristic interface.

Very importantly, as a luxury car brand, Lincoln¶s After Sales Service (ASSÎ will be

boosted through the use of technology. ASS is a very important functional need for

Luxury car owners. Among close competitors only Lexus has created a perception of and

has the network that provides great ASS. Lincoln should leverage its IT platform to

provide a new dimension to its service aspect i.e. using technology to make life easier

and smoother. They should come up with technology delivers seamless service

through an interactive reminder mechanism, one touch appointment scheduling and

home-pickup service. This will surpass the quality levels in the Industry and create a new

paradigm for Service levels in its segment. This attention to service level, automation

and sophistication will also cater to the emotional need of being ³pampered´, especially

when it comes to women customers. They should target at achieving a leadership

position in service levels and build a reputation of being the best after sales service

provider in its segment.

Rankings - JD Power Rankings

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

Lincoln will need to put its low-quality past behind it once and for all. Manufacturing

quality today is best represented by the JD Power Rankings. Ford has been able to climb

the rankings astonishingly fast in the last few years and today is #1. Similarly Lincoln will

have to strive to reach the top in the luxury segment. Specifically, Lincoln should publicly
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announce that they will jump to a top-3 rank in three years and then achieve it. By

publicly and loudly stating their quality goals, Lincoln can gain press and hence put their

consumers on notice about the seriousness of their goals. The risk in this move is that a

public announcement could backfire if Lincoln does not reach their goal.

Competition - Race on F1 Track

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

No American car, luxury or otherwise, is known for its drivability. European cars on other

hand have a racing heritage and brand association of tight driving. The hallowed home of

auto racing in the world is the Nurbugring in Germany. The fastest and most visible way

of showcasing driving credentials for the Lincoln is to race around the track against a

BMW, Cadillac, Lexus and Infiniti. This race can be shown Live! or the results made

public after the fact. In fact Lincoln can use its Social Networking reach to create buzz for

the event and rope in famous US drivers to drive the Lincoln against other famous

drivers from other nationalities in each of the competitor cars. By proudly showing an

American car, driven by an American race driver, beating out international competition on

a technically challenging circuit Lincoln will fill American consumers with pride and bring

them into the showrooms to test-drive a Lincoln. A twist to the event could be the driver

and car driving off the race-track after the race directly to the after-party. This will

showcase the dual nature of a Lincoln as a driver¶s car that can turn heads at a party too.

Of course, Lincoln is going to have to win that race!

Product Placement - Movies

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

One of the issues with the Lincoln brand today is the lack of awareness that Lincoln is
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producing good cars other than the old and boring Town-car. This issue can be rectified

with prominent product placement in movies. This tactic will serve to enhance the

perception of the brand as an exciting one. Product placement should be done in movies

and scenes that showcase the car as exciting, drivable and futuristic. Recent movies like

Mission Impossible, TRON, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Killers are examples of such

opportunities. By associating the brand with middle-aged, beautiful, high-tech and savvy

stars like Ashton Kutcher, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt Lincoln can increase

perception of the brand towards the needed associations. These movies have exciting

car chases, high speed drives, fancy driving and head-turning stars; the biggest

advantage of this move will be to kill the association of Lincoln with Old & Boring once

and for all!

Participation - Consumer Electronics Show (CESÎ

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

The annual CES in Las Vegas has become the pre-eminent event to showcase

technological superiority and upcoming products in the consumer electronics industry.

Ford already boosted its reputation in 2010 by having its CEO deliver the keynote

address at the event. Lincoln can leverage the halo effect by displaying its halo±car at

the show and exhibiting the consumer technologies that make the car the perfect

high-tech gadget! By tying up with CE firms like Microsoft, Intel & Samsung Lincoln can

show how one can control various aspects of one¶s life just by speaking to the car and

vice-versa. No one today looks at a car as a gadget but by showing seamless integration

with life, Lincoln can boost its futuristic and High-Tech cred.

Sponsorship - Connected Community

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HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

Lincoln can take a page out of Google¶s branding playbook by sponsoring a competition

for the Connected Community (CCÎ. The CC will be a small community that will receive

investment from Lincoln to set up infrastructure to connect various aspects of residents¶

lives. A Lincoln dealership will install the ability to connect to Lincoln cars wirelessly to

remind, schedule and complete maintenance. Lincoln owners will be able to voice

command Yellow-Pages to make reservations at restaurants, buy tickets and order

meals. Microsoft will install its software and hardware in a few Lincoln owner homes so

that the car and the home and talk to each other. Google maps will beam traffic and

weather updates directly to the navigator screens in the car. A bold move will be to loan

Lincoln cars to winners for a year and have a faux µreality¶ show that shows how these

owners are able to live a much more comfortable life because they drive Lincolns.

Sponsorship - American Idol

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

Ford used the American Idol sponsorship last year to associate its brand with the young

hip crowd. This worked wonders for the Fiesta and Fusion models. Lincoln can take that

concept further by sponsoring the Idol roadshow where Idol winners now olderÎ and

contestants ride in Lincoln cars during their roadshow. This will show the comfort,

spaciousness and all around luxury of the brand because most shots shown on TV are of

contestants IN the car. Furthermore, the association with Ô  Idol will enhance the

American-ness of the brand and be a standard-bearer for exciting American luxury.

Sponsorship ± Undercover Boss

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

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Today¶s economic reality has put responsibility and humble confidence ahead of

arrogance and flashiness. People are looking for heroes and leaders that represent the

best of American ingenuity and µroll up the sleeves¶ hard work. The show follows CEOs

as they roll up their sleeves and go undercover in their own organization to learn how the

employees work, what their issues are and how high-level decisions affects the common

man and his family in their firms. By associating itself with this show, Lincoln can

showcase itself as the brand that responsible and humble CEOs drive. These leaders

eschew showmanship and flashiness by getting their hands dirty and at the end of the

day when they go back to their office they do so in a pensive and thoughtful manner

while driving their Lincoln themselves rather than being driven around. This image of

the CEO driving himself while thinking about how he is going to put the lessons he learnt

undercover to improve his employees¶ lives is a powerful and compelling story.

Sponsorship ± Sports - Tennis & Golf

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

Tennis and Golf are sports played by the more affluent. Stars like Roger Federer (TennisÎ

and Michelle Wie (GolfÎ are examples of players that represent the harnessed

aggression of the Lincoln brand. These are players that are perfectionists that play

their games graciously and with a smile even though they are fierce competitors. Federer

is a successful player that has reached the pinnacle of his sport but has more to give and

Wie, while representing the successful woman, is a player that has a lot of potential and

is climbing her way up the ranks with her style and hard work. By sponsoring the US

Open tournaments in tennis and Golf and partnering with Federer and Wie, Lincoln can

build the association to the quality, American-ness and harnessed aggression.

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Politician¶s Cars & Security Agencies

HQ E F HT R C P T S&F PQ O&B T&C

This is by far the riskiest move Lincoln can make. But, if played right, this will finely blend

the Presidential association of the brand with its exciting future and cement that quality

and leadership reputation of the brand. Lincoln must make a bid to be the next

Presidential Limo and the official car of US Government agencies. By replacing the aging

design of the current presidential Cadillac limo with a stylish, American design that

represents the new quiet diplomatic power of the America Lincoln will build an excellent

association as a quality, responsible brand. The presidential limo travels the country and

the world with the president. It protects the leader of the free world and keeps him

connected with the crucial levers of government in any situation. What better association

to have for a brand that is High-Tech, futuristic and cat-like intelligent? Similarly, security

agencies like the Secret Service, FBI and CIA that represent technology, patriotism,

protection and excitement in American pop-culture are an excellent association for the

Lincoln brand.

Advertisements ± TV & Online

See Exhibit-9 for a sample advertisement. Like Jason and Claire, Lincoln¶s target

customer is 30-45 years old, successful in careers that have the potential of going a long

way, grew up with Technology and use it to make their lives easier, are fond of the city

living, like being pampered but in a responsible manner, love their kids and are more

comfortable living life than showing off their successes. In other words, their aggression

is harnessed to live a beautiful, comfortable and loving life.

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Social Networking ± forums, blogs, tweets

Today, car marketing is more than just TV and printing ads and a showroom, which you

have to wait for right customers to see and right customers to come. After Web 2.0

revolution, a social network has become a place for not only social but also marketing

places to all products. Cars are not an exception. In order to create brand awareness for

Lincoln, we have to utilize social media. This fits with the brand image of technologically

savvy, young up and comers. Like Fiesta Movement campaign, we will have a campaign

to promote Lincoln µby placing one in the hands of 100 social ³agents´ and having each of

them promote the new vehicle through Twitter, Facebook, blogs, video, and events.¶

Lincoln will also create a digital website, µwhich is a hub of social-media-friendly stories,

photos, and videos optimized for easy reposting on social networks. A forum that is lead

by the social agents but contributed to by all wil help owners learn from each other how to

best use the Lincoln car and service to make their lives comfortable and seamless. When

Lincoln wants to develop news µapps¶ and services it can poll this forum and have the

members discuss the merits and demerits of ideas.

Specifically, Lincoln needs to use Social Networking not as a tool but as a way of doing

business. Its forums must be active and employees must participate. Managed µleaks¶

should go to owners and social networks first. All in all, Lincoln needs to pursue a big part

of its product development, launch, sales and service as a socially connected and

responsible brand.
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Since Lincoln¶s appeal and core competencies are more interior, technology based, and

with its long-time prestige status image within the luxury segment, the extended product

lines should also fill in the same profile or lifestyle of a premium taste. For a list of

possible brand extensions see Exhibit-10

Lincoln could increase its luxury lifestyle image by licensing the brand name to Premium

Travel Package, boat/yacht and golf/ wine/ cigarette accessories. Lincoln doesn¶t have

these techniques or abilities to build all these products, however, by licensing the

well-known prestige Lincoln brand name to the luxury pleasure category, Lincoln should

be perceived as a modern luxury indulgence while these products could benefit from the

high status image from Lincoln.

Endorsed brands, and sub-brands: To leverage Lincoln¶s prestige image to more

sophisticated taste and intelligent character, it could build sub-brands with high-end

designer brand for stationary sets, such as pen, key chain, business card holder and etc.,

for fashion accessories such as sun glasses or watches and for smart phones. For

example, Blackberry could introduce a series of ³designed by Lincoln´ with its classic

look and feel and its unique technology embedded.

Individual product brand: Since Lincoln has very advanced IT feature in car industry.

Lincoln could also consider leveraging its technology abilities to other categories. For

example, Lincoln car is always equipped with GPS or THX®II Certified Audio System. It¶s

possible for Lincoln that creates an individual brand for these mature and advance

technology gadgets into mass market without hurting the prestige brand image itself.
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Exhibit-1: SWOT Analysis

›
 

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Exhibit-2: Brand Association Map

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Exhibit-3: Current Brand Pyramid

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Exhibit-4: Needs based segmentations and drivers of the luxury-car market

d |
%| & |  || # || #$% ||
Egocentric,
Foreign Brand, Likes a new
Flashy, Loves to Acceleration, Horse Self-Centered,
"Fifty c" Car every 2-3 years, Should
show-off and loud Power, Body Styling Daring,
catch people's eye,
Adventuresome,
Foreign Brand, Likes a new
Car every 2-3 years, Should Demanding, Social,
Very Rich and "Beverly Acceleration, Horse
catch people's eye, Express Confident,
loves to Show that Hills Power, Body Styling,
my Stature (PrestigeÎ, self-centered, Self
off. Wife" Comfort,
Possessive about the car, Assured, Aggressive
Use car for Pleasure
Dominating,
Foreign Brand, Likes a new
Authoritarian,
Car every 2-3 years, Should
Very Rich, Aggressive,
catch people's eye, Express
Aggressive, "Gordan Acceleration, Horse Confident, Witty,
my Stature (PrestigeÎ,
Loves to show-off Gekko" Power, Body Styling, Daring,
Possessive about the car,
their Position. Adventuresome,
Use car for Work &
Intelligent, creative,
Pleasure
stubborn
Performance not Self-Assured,
My car should not catch
necessarily Confident, refined,
people's attention,
acceleration Comfort, dignified, intelligent,
Quiet, Private& "Tom Possessive about the car,
Combinations of well informed,
Conservative Hanks" Driving Pleasure, Drive
Features, Likeable,
Alone, feel important and
(CustomizationÎ, IT conservative,
special
Features efficient, amicable
Horse Power, Options My car express my Sophisticated,
(combinations of personality, Like driving, dignified, confident,
Sauvé and "George Features, Drive alone, Use my car for friendly, adventurous,
Sophisticated, Clooney CustomizationÎ, Work mostly, Possessive Intelligent, informed,
Smooth operator " Latest Technology, IT about my car, Need a new efficient, creative,
Features, Body car 2-3 years, Express my Dominating,
Styling, Smooth Drive stature Romantic
 c

    
 
|
Sophisticated,
dignified, confident,
My car express my friendly,
Acceleration, Body
Independent, personality, Like driving, adventuresome,
"Kate Styling, Latest in Car
Successful, and Drive with people, Long Trips Humorous,
Walsh" Technology, Smooth
Naughty and Vacation, Use my care Intelligent, Well
Drive, IT features
for Work and Pleasure informed, efficient,
creative, romantic,
competent
Self Assured,
Arrogant & Confident,
Acceleration, Horse Foreign Brand, My car should
Aggressive, "Vin aggressive,
Power, Tight Driving catch people's eye, Express
Loves Power Diesel" dominating, ego
(ControlÎ, my personality,
centric,
straightforward
Acceleration, Options Intelligent, smart, well
Tech-savvy, fast, (combinations of Driving Pleasure, Possessive informed, efficient,
in thought and "Tom Features, About the car, My car should organized, creative,
action, intelligent, Cruise" CustomizationÎ, express my personality, Use sophisticated,
practical Latest Technology, IT car for work and pleasure confident, friendly,
Features competent
Comfort, Durability, Not possessive about the car Social, amicable,
Traditional, family "Soccer SUV - works for the (family carÎ, Drive with efficient, organized,
oriented Mom" whole family, Safety other's, Use the car for other trustworthy,
features than work competent
Straightforward,
broadminded,
Traditional, down Comfort, Durability,
affectionate, kind,
to Earth, "Harriso SUV, Horse Power, American Car, Like Driving,
amicable, well
home-boy n Ford" Safety features, Will not change car often
informed, friendly,
American Smooth Drive
dignified, self
assured, confident
 c

    
 
|

Exhibit-5:Current Fulfillment of Segments

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Exhibit-7:Lincoln's associations that need to be maintained, dropped, and added


*

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Exhibit-8:Desired association map

|
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Exhibit-9: Sample Advertisement

Advertisements will have to showcase the complete, drivable and smart luxury of the

Lincoln brand. The script that follows is an example of just such an effort.

Its 6pm on Thursday night in Chicago as Lisa wraps up her client call. She decides she

doesn¶t want to wait for the weekend to have fun but wants to go see the latest Ashton

Kutcher movie at 8.30pm and then drinks with her girlfriends. But what about her

husband, Jason and toddler, Claire? As she gets into her Lincoln she video chats with

Jason, who is still at work, and tells him of her plans. He tells her to go have fun and that

he¶ll be home by 7.30pm. She then connects with her girlfriends using Facebook and

tells them she¶ll pick them up at 8.15pm. She feels bad for leaving her family for the

evening so she voice-commands her Lincoln to call their favorite Italian restaurant where

she orders her husband¶s favorite dish and daughter¶s appetizer. Then her Lincoln

automatically sends her husband¶s Lincoln a message that he needs to detour to the

restaurant to pick up the order. As she nears Claire¶s day-care she buys her movie

tickets via the app on her Sync system and asks Google Maps for the fastest way to pick

up her friends and reach the theater on time. On the way from the day-care she controls

her home¶s lights and heater for the optimum environment by the time they get home.

She gets to their trendy condo in Lincoln Park, plays with Claire, welcomes a smiling and

elegantly dressed husband and then dresses in her sleek black dress. After a good night

kiss to Claire and hug for Jason, she tell her Lincoln to send an sms to her group telling

them she is leaving to pick them up!

 c

    
 
|

Exhibit-10:Brand Extensions

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References:
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Databases ± Choices-III and Mintel