Ford Motor Co. (F) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) are teaming up again in an effort to boost car sales, with the software giant lending some help to the auto maker's marketing launch of the redesigned Taurus sedan.

The auto maker is using a technology innovation from the computer software maker - known as tags - in its print materials in order to give potential car buyers a more interactive introduction to the car. Ford and Microsoft first formed a partnership a few years ago to launch the Sync telematics system, which enables drivers to hook Bluetooth-enabled entertainment and communications devices into the car.

Looking very much like a bar code found on most consumer products, the black-and-white tags are integrated into the design of an advertisement and can be photographed by anyone carrying a camera-equipped smart phone, such as Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone, or Research In Motion Ltd.'s (RIMM) Blackberry. Once the image has been downloaded, it then links a consumer to a company-designed Web site.

In Ford's case, the tags lead smart-phone users to a site featuring six different video clips explaining the Taurus' technology, ranging from a demonstration of a cruise-control system that adapts to the speed of the vehicle in front of the car, to a system that automatically detects objects in a driver's blind spot.

Ford plans to mail out more than 700,000 Taurus brochures equipped with the tags nationwide in October, and then follow up by embedding tags in print advertisements.

"We needed to challenge ourselves to tell the story in a new way," said Dave Sanabria, Ford's advertising manager. "We thought this would be great so we could bring to life the details."

The Taurus launch has been a major endeavor for Ford as it looks to continue momentum in the U.S. market and reestablish itself in a variety of passenger car segments. The car's marketing has focused heavily on the vehicle's array of new technologies, including fuel-economy improvements.

Sanabria said he decided to incorporate the tags after Microsoft introduced the application for commercial use in January. It is based on a product-tracking technology developed by Japanese auto supplier Denso Corp. (DNZOY) more than a decade ago known as "quick response." The technology has become popular in Japan, and is included in a variety of advertising methods, included business cards.

Ford already had a taste of some success with a similar technology concept in the U.K. There, consumers who scanned a tag-like bar code with their camera phone automatically loaded a three-dimensional version of the new Ford Ka. They were then routed to a Web site with more information.

Ford isn't the lone U.S. company giving Microsoft's tags system a test drive. Microsoft has worked with a variety of companies, ranging from CKE Restaurants Inc.'s (CKR) Hardee's restaurants to Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS), to implement the feature.

Dick's used the tags on Sept. 5 during a football game between the University of Oklahoma and Brigham Young University at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. About 75,000 fans attended and, at one point during the game, they were encouraged to point their smart phones toward the stadium's massive HDTV video screen and take a picture of the tag.

The tag led users to the retailer's new mobile site where they received a $10 rebate on a purchase.

But potential car buyers will have to do a work to use the technology.

Interested parties must visit the Web site "gettag.mobi" with their smart phone to download a tag reader application that will activate the tags.

Sanabria says Ford may use the technology on other launches if the Taurus execution meets expectations.

-By Jeff Bennett; Dow Jones Newswires; jeff.bennett@dowjones.com; 248-204-5542

(John Stoll of The Wall Street Journal contributed to this article.)