At a time when  General Motors’ Saturn is running an ad stating forlornly, “We’re still here,” rival Infiniti is revving up its branded entertainment placements.

The automaker has embedded its models and “inspirational” tagline into the current NCAA tournament, Elvis Costello’s music-centric series on Sundance Channel and Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio.

Infiniti executives are also mulling a continuation of a two-year deal with Comedy Central’s Colbert Report, where the brand recently sponsored an online interactive-voting application that lets viewers pick their favorite moments from the show.

Though parent company Nissan North America is hurting, along with the rest o the industry—car sales in units fell 27.7 percent for the first two months of this year versus the same period in 2008 per AutoData, Woodcliff Lake, N.J.—Infiniti isn’t dialing back on marketing.

“We have to be in market, talking to shoppers,” said Kathy Roznowski, senior manager, Infiniti media, at parent company Nissan North America. Though its primary focus is on nuts-and-bolts marketing, Infiniti also is emphasizing branded entertainment, which “gets us into venues where we can show the value of our brand and speak to a demographic that has an affinity for us,” Roznowski said.

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