automotive

Ford Unveils Expedition Via Facebook Live

Ford is introducing the all-new Expedition today with an assist from the Dallas Cowboys in Texas, America’s best-selling full-size SUV market.

The event at The Star, the stadium where the Cowboys play, is being shared with consumers via Facebook Live. Cowboys Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Stephen Jones will help reveal the vehicle during the event.

The unveiling included a video showing Dallas firefighters joining Ford to surprise a local first responder with an all-new Expedition. Last fall, Ford and the Dallas Cowboys surprised Dallas firefighters of Station 43 by refurbishing their station.

The vehicle, available in the fall, is geared toward “active families” who want smart technology to be able to stay connected while they have their adventures, says Ford Utility Marketing Manager Craig Patterson.

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Expedition is Ford’s first vehicle to feature a wireless charging system, which allows customers to place compatible mobile devices on an integrated charging pad located in the front center console. An in-vehicle WiFi hotspot supports as many as 10 devices at once, up to 50 feet away from the vehicle. There is a power source for passengers in every row, with four 12-volt power points, six USB chargers and a 110-volt power outlet.

More than just “active,” these families take their adventures to the “extreme,” Patterson tells Marketing Daily. Rather than simply visiting national parks, they are looking to do things like climb the highest peak in each state or go white-water rafting.

The target is aging Gen Xers with older/grown children who want to go on multi-generational road trips, perhaps even with their own parents as well as their kids on board. 

“A big part of our marketing will be going after that family adventure customer, and being able to connect with them emotionally,” Patterson said. “A lot of it will be one-to-one type marketing, whether its digital, or trying to do conquest messaging. Our competition has a large chunk of the market right now, but we have found if we can inform customers of what our advantages are versus there’s, they are very willing to give us a chance.”

General Motors has about 75% of the segment currently between the Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon.

Because there is a huge concentration of these customers in the Southwest, the marketing will be very targeted, he said.  

“It doesn’t really lend itself to a national TV campaign,” he says. “It lends itself to a more targeted — either geographically targeted or customer targeted — campaign.”

Global Team Blue, previously Team Detroit, continues as the Expedition AOR.

Powered by a 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine, the all-new Expedition is the most powerful Expedition ever. Expected best-in-class towing and available electronic limited-slip differential allow customers to quickly adapt to changing conditions when driving either on- or off-road. More than 50% of Expedition customers value towing, and 15% tow weekly or monthly.

The Expedition is part of Ford’s plan to grow its leadership in SUVs with five new SUVs coming to its North American vehicle lineup in the next four years.

4 comments about "Ford Unveils Expedition Via Facebook Live".
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  1. Jonathan Hutter from Northern Light Health, February 8, 2017 at 8:46 a.m.

    Aging Millennials have grown children? What did they start having kids when they were 12? 

  2. Tanya Gazdik from MediaPost replied, February 8, 2017 at 8:50 a.m.

    Good catch, thank you! I meant to write aging Gen Xers. Makes more sense, right? 

  3. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, February 8, 2017 at 9:14 a.m.

    Jonathan, they probably adopt them.

  4. Jonathan Hutter from Northern Light Health replied, February 9, 2017 at 8:40 a.m.

    That makes more sense Tanya, although it makes me feel old. For a while there I thought Ford was getting caught up in its demographic knickers. 

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