LINCOLN / ALETHEA

Making Lincoln relevant by putting emerging artists at the center of the brand.

ALETHEA, a film noir short by director Duncan Wolfe, was the first film from Lincoln's influencer co-creation program. It helped close the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and set the tone for Lincoln's advertising.

Lincoln was reintroducing itself as The Lincoln Motor Company, and the people it most needed to reach did not see it as their brand. Traditional luxury car advertising was not going to change that. At the same time, a new generation of filmmakers, musicians and creators was building real audiences on social media, with a voice no brand could fake.

As creative lead for Ford and Lincoln social media at Team Ford at WPP/Ogilvy, I saw the chance to connect the two. Our team built the first influencer co-creation program of its kind: emerging artists were brought into the brand and given the resources to tell their own stories, with Lincoln as partner rather than author. I was embedded in Lincoln's creative process down to the product development level, so the artists worked from the same thinking that shaped the cars, and the program was built around what was emerging on social media at the time. The talent got a real platform, and Lincoln got work with a voice it could not have created on its own.

ALETHEA was the first film from the program. Director Duncan Wolfe made a three-minute contemporary film noir that follows Alethea through New York City in a Lincoln MKZ, with no dialogue, stylized camera work and evocative lighting. It is an ode to the creative process and a love letter to New York, and the team took it from idea to finished film in under 30 days.

ALETHEA screened at Lincoln's closing-night event at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, where Lincoln was signature sponsor, and was released online. Its look and its way of working set the tone for the Lincoln advertising that followed.

It was one of a run of firsts our team delivered at Team Ford at WPP/Ogilvy, including Ford's first vehicle launch on social media.

Client: The Lincoln Motor Company
Employer: Team Ford at WPP/Ogilvy
Position: Creative Lead, Ford and Lincoln Social Media
Project role: Program concept, influencer co-creation, creative direction, creative strategy
Collaborators: Duncan Wolfe
Featured vehicle: Lincoln MKZ
Premiere: Tribeca Film Festival closing-night event, 2014
Disciplines: Influencer co-creation, artist collaboration, branded entertainment, film, social media, creative direction