Lincoln Reaches New Heights in Experiential Marketing with Time Warner Center Alliance

NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2004 -- Lincoln, the North American luxury brand of Ford Motor Company, this week is unveiling an industry first -- a total luxury lifestyle environment at Time Warner Center in New York City. Lincoln will showcase vehicles year round and provide customers and visitors with a high-touch, high-tech professional concierge service to facilitate their interaction with the brand.

"This breakthrough alliance with Time Warner Center allows Lincoln to combine experiential marketing, customer relationship management, and interactive digital technology into one powerful luxury brand experience for our customers," said John Fitzpatrick, Lincoln Mercury's general marketing manager. "We believe a 360 degree brand experience that hits all consumer touch points is the most effective way to reach our luxury target audience and this alliance with Time Warner Center represents a model of how Lincoln could move forward in the future."

At Time Warner Center, Lincoln joins a unique mix of luxury lifestyle associates that together create a sophisticated urban village complete with world-renowned entertainment, fine dining, a five-star hotel, premium residences, and specialty shops.

Lincoln's presence at Time Warner Center features an elegant, state-of- the-art display of Lincoln vehicles illuminated under floating canopies near the main entrance, where an estimated 16 million people will pass each year. High-resolution plasma touch screens are positioned nearby, artfully conveying the Lincoln "Travel Well" brand theme with images, text and interactives.

The latest and most technologically advanced Lincoln vehicles will be featured, beginning this week with the Aviator SUV next-generation concept vehicle and the brand new production model of Lincoln's luxury truck, the 2006 Mark LT.

Visitor interaction with the Lincoln vehicles is facilitated by a professional concierge as Lincoln introduces the concierge concept to the automotive experience for the first time. Operating in Time Warner Center's complete Wi-Fi environment, the concierge provides visitors with a premium, high-tech shopping experience at the touch of a button. This includes immediate downloading of information about Lincoln vehicles to visitors' PDAs and arranging vehicle test drives at any one of the more than 1,300 Lincoln dealerships across the U.S.

Moreover, Lincoln's alliance with Time Warner Center provides it the opportunity to make a cultural contribution to the Columbus Circle community of New York City. Lincoln is the Presenting Sponsor of Art & Design at Time Warner Center and will bring at least five art exhibits each year to the space, beginning with the reveal of a Kurt Wenner masterpiece on Thursday, October 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Kurt Wenner, a Master Artist who specializes in anamorphic painting and has created works to commemorate events ranging from Pope Paul II's visit to Mantua, Italy to the 100th anniversary of Times Square, inaugurates Lincoln's Art & Design sponsorship with a unique mythological design that expresses the essence of Lincoln's "Travel Well" theme.

Other components of the alliance include permanent Lincoln branding in the Great Room/Atrium, as well as a unique visual presence on the 26 LCD screens located in and outside of the Center.

"Lincoln's alliance with Time Warner Center is a catalyst for more experiential marketing programs to come that will combine elements of sophisticated arts and entertainment, luxury lifestyle associates and our powerful Lincoln brand imagery to create exciting consumer experiences with our vehicles," said Fitzpatrick.

"Time Warner Center brings the best in luxury to our patrons through the finest retail, real estate and restaurant properties," said Tim Hindert, president of Related Experiences, the event, media and sponsorship division of Time Warner Center's development team, which includes The Related Companies and Apollo Real Estate Advisors. "Lincoln, with its commitment to luxury and service, is a perfect fit for the lifestyle experience we have created at Time Warner Center."

The Time Warner affiliation, which is an exclusive automotive relationship, is the latest in a series of new marketing and advertising initiatives from Lincoln, which will debut five new products over four years, starting early next year. It is also the second brand-building action Lincoln has taken in the New York area. This spring, Lincoln launched an exclusive print campaign in The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine aimed at the influential opinion-leaders who read The Times.

"Lincoln has a rich history with New York City, opening its first dealership here in 1936," said Fitzpatrick. "The Time Warner Center alliance gives us the opportunity to be an even greater part of this city and make an ongoing cultural contribution to this vital community."

About Lincoln

Lincoln is part of the Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., 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.

About Time Warner Center

Time Warner Center, the new 2.8 million square foot complex at Columbus Circle opened to the public February 5, 2004. The Shops at Columbus Circle and The Restaurant Collection consist of retail, food and beverage, and entertainment programming totaling 350,000 square feet of leasable space. Together with Jazz at Lincoln Center's three performance halls, opening in the fall, 2004, this world-class destination provides New York's Westside with 500,000 square feet of dynamic restaurant, retail and entertainment uses. The new complex also includes Time Warner's world headquarters, One Central Park condominiums and The Residences at the Mandarin Oriental, New York and the Mandarin Oriental Five Star luxury hotel. The $1.7 billion project was developed by Columbus Centre LLC, a partnership consisting of The Related Companies, L.P. and Apollo Real Estate Advisors.

About Related Experiences

Related Experiences is the sponsorship, media and marketing arm of the Time Warner Center real estate development team, which includes The Related Companies and Apollo Real Estate Advisors. Related Experiences will enrich the guest experience at Time Warner Center with luxury marketing partnership opportunities, year-round corporate and private events and live performances and Mediascape Solutions, the preferred Time Warner Center provider of all media services, will work with Related Experiences to offer complete support for all event production, on-site broadcast production services, a site-wide media delivery system, and a full complement of transmission services within the site and to outside media and locations.

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