• by Tanya Gazdik , May 10, 2023

Ford Motor Co. is debuting its highly anticipated Ranger midsize pickup via a nearly four-minute-long video featuring adventure-craving influencers.

One of the three influencers featured in the video from Wieden+Kennedy is Ford Ambassador Jan Zweistra, who has owned the previous-generation Ranger since 2019 and has nearly 62,000 followers via his @395North Instagram account.

Also featured in the video is Sara Price, an off-road champion with 102,000 followers at  @sarapricemx and Alvin Dedeaux, a fly fisher with almost 31,000 follower at @alvin_dedeaux_fly_fishing. 

Dedeaux has also signed on as a new Ford Ambassador, says Ranger Marketing Manager Gretchen Sauer. 

The three were chosen in large part because of their authenticity in actually using the truck, she says. 

“We are also trying to reach a broader audience,” Sauer tells Marketing Daily. “So we focused on making sure we were representative of who the Ranger customer was, whether it's Hispanic or African American or female, because Ranger truly reaches a much broader audience.”

The target customer is millennials and Gen X, she says. 

“Because they're the folks that have the disposable income, but also the interest in doing the things that we talk about, the offroad adventures, those kinds of things,” Sauer says. “We're also leaning towards a Hispanic audience because what we've found and what we've heard from our customers is that they enjoy going out camping with their family. They want to bring their family out in comfort, and Ranger enables them to do that in a very authentic way.”

The long-form video features images of three different trim levels of the 2023 Ford Ranger: XL, XLT and Lariat. The fourth version of the pickup, the Ranger Raptor, features technology and design elements not found in the other three trims, including a 3.0-liter EcoBoost®V6 generating best-in-class 405 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque.

Narrated by actor Bryan Cranston, longtime Ford voiceover talent, the spot takes a poetic approach to showcasing the truck’s attributes and ends with the hashtag #RANGERready and the tagline “Build Ford Tough.” 

The long-form video, along with a 30-second version, will be shared across Ford’s social accounts and at Ford.com/RANGERready.

The all-new pickup is built with features to encourage exploring new places and taking on new challenges. Ford says it has engineered every part of Ranger to meet the demanding needs of customers who truly have active lifestyles, including its frame, suspension, powertrains, connectivity and advanced driver assist software.

Ranger will start at $34,160 and Ranger Raptor will start at $56,960, including $1,595 for destination and delivery. The website to allow potential owners to build and price vehicles is expected to be available in the coming weeks.