An integrated marketing campaign to support the launch of six new vehicles over four years will include Mercury’s most significant online efforts to date, according to the auto manufacturer.

Nearly 25% of the budget for the

Ford Motor Company brand Mercury has debuted “New Doors Opened,” an integrated marketing effort to support the launch of six new products over four years.

Nearly 25% of the budget for the effort will go towards digital and customer relationship events. “A strategic decision was made to employ the Internet in a way like we have never done before,” said John Fitzpatrick, Lincoln Mercury general marketing manager in a statement. This “represents a substantial commitment when compared to prior launches.”

The new vehicles include the introduction next month of the Mercury Mariner, a compact SUV, and the Mercury Montego, a new mid-sized sedan.

A new Web site will launch in October, using a “lifestyle” approach to promote the vehicles. In addition, online ads for the Mariner and Montego will appear on lifestyle Web sites such as epicurious.com, foodnetwork.com, Yahoo, MSN, weather.com, and others.

“Our new products give us the opportunity to redefine our brand,” said Tom Grill, Lincoln Mercury marketing communications manager in a statement.

The campaign will portray the brand’s “seamless fit into life’s everyday moments of discovery,” according to the auto manufacturer. A new song for the promotion, “It’s My Life,” was written by Paula Cole and produced by Don Was, who are both Grammy winners. The composition was a collaborative effort between the artists, Mercury and its ad agency, Y&R Brands. Four different versions of the song will be used in the campaign.

The broadcast and print components of “New Doors Opened” will begin with a teaser campaign the week of Sept. 13 that will feature myriad images of doors opening, culminating with a set of garage doors opening to reveal the new vehicles. “New Doors Opened” will continue with flights of Mariner and Montego brand-specific ads running from September to November and again in 2005.

Network television advertising will include spots on early morning, evening news and late night programs. The Mariner ads will also be seen during primetime on programs that were selected based on target audience insights, such as “Alias” on ABC, “Scrubs” on NBC, and “24” on Fox, as well as cable channels, such as Food Network, HGTV, and Lifetime. The Montego ads will be seen during primetime on programs including “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC, “CSI” on CBS, and “ER” on NBC. The Montego ads will also be seen on cable channels, such as CNBC, Discovery Channel, and ESPN.

In addition, Mariner and Montego print ads will appear in magazines targeting interests such as women’s and men’s lifestyle, business and finance, epicurean, sports and travel, and science and technology.