russebp

I was watching Jeep videos on YouTube when this commercial was served up. What's Ford thinking?

https://youtu.be/-TqdmdX_mNA

jedg

Only one way for you to be unstoppable... leave the pavement....

Slymoon

They are thinking they are appealing to the typical lazy person.

Why do something yourself when the car can do it for you. (Insert tag line)

Just look at the self-propelled push mower. And then look around at the average waistline.

It doesn't take a ton of brainpower to see the correlation...

Blizz

The way this was presented, the Escape is much more user friendly. I don't see any problems with how this ad was done.
Auto lift gate is appealing to a lot of people, same with more cargo space. Some people like topless, doorless jeeps. Some people like A/C. That's why there are hundreds of different cars out there that appeal to different people.
This commercial needed to be made to showcase the benefits of the Escape over the Wrangler - of which there are many. There are also many benefits to owning a Wrangler, but it is not Ford's problem to showcase them in their commercials.

jedg

I think, for me, I see this as Ford misinterpreting the market. They see the success of the Wrangler in terms of a pavement vehicle and have missed that the folks that purchase a wrangler are likely purchasing based on emotion.

I think the Ford Escape is more of a competitor to the Jeep Renegade.

Mark Doiron

I agree with that. But I think Ford is targeting the market that buys a Wrangler who may be better suited for some other vehicle. For example, there are a lot of Wrangler owners in my Oklahoma neighborhood. It's not a particularly large or small neighborhood, but I'd estimate that there are at least a 12-15 Wrangler owners based on what I see walking the neighborhood, peeking into folk's garages (that sounds suspicious, doesn't it?). Anyway, I'd estimate that about twenty percent of them don't have that Wrangler within a year. It was the wrong vehicle for them. Ford is trying to lure that market before they make that purchase--give them some food for thought. This may also be why the Wrangler, after many years of dominance, fell off of the top of the resale value chart.

jedg

Yup, good point. I agree that many Wrangler owners bought on emotion and not on what actually fits them more. But, it seems to me that Ford is approaching that emotional purchase urge with a practical argument. Perhaps that will work.

mr72

Ford wants you to compare the Escape with the Wrangler, because in most ways that people will actually use a vehicle, the Escape is going to be a far better choice. They are basically saying, "you want a tough-looking SUV? Well look here, the Escape is just a better car". OTOH if they tried to make a commercial comparing with a Renegade, well the Renegade has the same benefits as the Escape does so it doesn't suit Ford to showcase that. In fact FCA could make this same ad with a Renegade in place of the Escape and it would make the same point.

The point being: for a car, a Wrangler kind of sucks. You're going to hate it for most of the stuff you need it for. Don't fall for the tough and outdoorsy looks, it's horribly inconvenient and unfriendly to use.

And they are right.

jedg

Sure. I get that. What I'm saying is that the folks that purchased a Wrangler weren't thinking 'as car Wrangler sucks' (it does)... they were thinking emotionally... WOW! I can go ANYWHERE now and I look rugged in it!...

I see what Ford is doing... show the weakness of the Wrangler and the strengths of the Escape... that'll work for a few folks I think...

mr72

Actually I think only a very tiny minority of Wrangler buyers care at all that they can go anywhere. They pretty much only care about looking rugged and tough. If you could get an honest survey, I bet it is over 90% of people who buy a Wrangler do it primarily for the looks/fashion part. And among the other 10%, I would be willing to bet the majority of those rank some kind of brand loyalty or impression that it's American made as a top indicator. I would imagine "go anywhere" is the main reason you buy a Wrangler only for maybe 1-2% of all Wrangler buyers.

I don't think it will work at all, because people in general are not even remotely rational. They will always make the ill-informed emotional choice. And then once they have done that, they will double down by joining the Jeep clique, conforming to the expectations of that clique by adding on "upgrades" or "mods" that are popular among others in the clique, get a Jeep tattoo, etc. Ford won't compete with all of that with an Escape. They'd be far better off making an ad comparing the Wrangler to a Mustang.

"You want a car that makes you feel special and cool? Well Mustang is way better at that than Jeep, and it's a much more useful car to boot!"

or... "Jeep... since 1941, and for everyone who has been around since 1941..."

"There's no better way to relive your glory days of high school than to drive a Mustang. Who's the cool kid now? You're welcome."

If Ford really wants to gain an edge in sales on their Escape, they need to do this same comparison but compare it to an Accord or a Camry. Because essentially they need to say, "the Escape is just as good in every way as an Accord or Camry, but it's better in a few ways and might even be slightly cooler". Or do a comparison with a Kia Soul. "It may be more expensive but it's worth it, with available all wheel drive and an American brand name so you can make yourself feel like you are a patriotic American, helping the American economy by buying it".

The whole focus on the utility/convenience/etc angle will only work for a very small number of rational people and those people were never considering a Wrangler to begin with, or if they were, then they have already counted the cost of all of the downsides and they have determined there really is nothing in the Wrangler's market segment.