Your Google searches helped shape a new Mustang Mach-E campaign.
An analysis of online activity over the past year showed people looking for information about how Mustang Mach-E rates against other electric vehicles — along with information about EVs in general — and inspired Ford Motor Co. to launch a campaign called, "Mach-E vs. Everything."
It includes five short films for YouTube, plus a new 15-second TV ad. They're basically high-octane video versions of the corporate FAQs.
The plan was to use speed and action to explain what the all-electric Mach-E can do.
"We can put all the specifications out there, but for people to understand what it means is different," said Thea Toney, marketing communications manager for Mach-E.
Rather than leaving things up to the imagination, Ford shows what it all looks like.
"We can say the Mustang Mach-E premium has a 300-mile range and that sounds great, but what does it really mean? So we made a rocket film," she said. "We were able to actually build and shoot off a rocket, and had the Mach-E shooting across the desert."
That video overlays an image to illustrate how far 300 miles is, an attempt to ease range anxiety among potential buyers who fear the batteries might run out of juice.
Awards are nice, but ...
For many consumers, knowing the Mach-E won the 2021 North American Utility of the Year isn't enough. That was a huge honor that has been celebrated by Ford, especially because recognition wasn't in an all-electric category but all SUVs. Still, all-electric products are new to much of America.
The Google trend survey 2020-21, which Ford analyzed to shape the campaign, illustrated a hunger for more information, Ford said.
The video spots open with a warning: Do not attempt to re-enact what you are about to see. Stunt drivers are featured demonstrating the vehicle's incredible speed and sudden stopping.
The videos are titled: "Gravity," "Lightning," "Racing Pit Crew," "DNA" and "Rocket Science."
They illustrate the power of torque and what it means to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.8 seconds, what traveling 300 miles on a battery looks like using a rocket, and the speed of updates done over-the-air, like cellphone and laptop updates, by including a pit crew harnessed to the bed of a truck in a race car setting.
"We wanted to shatter misconceptions people have about electric vehicles," Toney said.
The five spots, which range from 92 to 146 seconds long, are available on YouTube. Meanwhile, Ford has prepared a 15-second ad that started airing on TV this week.
Toney said that Ford wanted to educate and entertain with "bold, unexpected experiments." Some viewers have compared the spots to "MythBusters," the TV show that conducted tests to prove or disprove scientific claims. Others have been reminded of the "Fast & Furious" movies about street racing.
Collectors have criticized Ford for putting the iconic Mustang nameplate on an SUV. But Jim Farley, the firm's new CEO who used to race cars, has been unswerving in his attempt to persuade skeptics that a Mustang is a Mustang, even if it's all-electric and reimagined in 2021.
His new approach: Show rather than tell.
