Battle of the Muscle Cars: Mustang's Move on Camaro

After in April sales of the Chevrolet Camaro topped those of decade long rival Ford Mustang (29,907 units vs. 20,836), Ford's marketing department is preparing an advertising offensive described as aggressive, to say the least.

With the goal of letting customers know about the changes brought to the 2011 model year Mustang, Ford has already begun running its first Mustang TV spot since 2006, plans a print campaign this June and take full advantage of the social media websites and services.

The campaign is meant to emphasize the changes brought to the Mustang's powertrains, as the visual changes are minor to say the least. The engine lineup is impressive, with the 2011 Mustang coupe and convertible to get a new 3.7l V6 engine, the Mustang GT an all-new 5.0l, 32-valve V8 with Ti-VCT, while the Shelby GT500 will receive a 5.4l supercharged V8.

"It's pretty simple: Powertrains are important in sports cars," Steve Ling, Ford's North American car marketing manager was quoted as saying by Autonews. "Combine those with all the other changes we've made, and it's what our Mustang customers have been asking for."

The TV add, which has been running for a month now, advertises the first production car in history to produce more 300+ horsepower and 30+ mpg highway, the 3.7l V6 engined Mustang (for the sake of comparison, last year's Mustang was rated at 210 hp and 24 mpg on the highway).

As for the prints adds, they will promote the V8 engine in enthusiast magazines and the V6 in lifestyle magazines. Social media will be used to promote appearances and events.