Bronco Nation LIVE — Exclusive Q&A with Bronco Brand Team

So... @jparker and @ did a Q&A with the Bronco Brand Team during Woodward Dream Cruise. And @jparker finally posted it. 😉

Links​

• Apple Podcast
• Spotify

Participants​

Matt Winter - Bronco Brand Manager
Alison Davis - Assistant Brand Manager, Bronco, Bronco Sport, and Mustang
Donte Jenkins - Ownership & Experience Manager - Enthusiast Brands (Bronco and Mustang)

Transcript​

NOTE: This is not exactly word-for-word. Matt in particular was difficult to transcribe... so... apologies to Matt. But I did my best. 😉

@jparker : What does the brand team do?

Matt
The brand team... what we do, we are the voice of the customer for Ford. So our responsibility extends to anything that's in-market or near-term coming to market. So for the 24 model year, I've been working on that for about six months. And now that it's in market that is fully our responsibility. And what we do is we like to come to events like this, we take the feedback, and we really try to convey that up the chain to our leadership, work with other teams, incorporate features, stuff that the customers want to see, etc. (We also) communicate the changes and things that are coming from Ford to customers—or external communication that's going to be coming—that goes through our team on the marketing side.

Alison
Yeah we also get to work quite a bit with the field and dealers. We work with the field to make sure they're working with the dealers, so the dealers are fully informed, and then we also work directly with the dealers. We also get to do a lot of fun stuff. I think Donte does the bulk of that so I let him talk about his job little bit.

Donte
Yeah so I have a fun job. I essentially am in charge of all of the ownership and experiences for Bronco, Bronco Sport, and Mustang. I specifically—so when you think of Bronco Nation—that's me in charge of trying to create best-in-class ownership experiences for the customers that own Broncos or Bronco Sports. One of the big things this year—what we wanted to do was basically "bring the outdoors to everyone", make the outdoors accessible for everyone. So how can we just create those best class experiences to make customers want to stay in a Bronco throughout their entire lives.

@Laura : How does the team receive feedback? Events? Forums? Dealers? Customers?

Matt
A great question. We get inspiration from everywhere and all the above. So we do talk a lot with our dealers, we work with them (to find out) what their customers are saying, what they think they can sell, what they think they can't sell. They really are the experts on that, so we we work with them a lot. We also come to events like this, we talk to customers. You guys are great at giving us feedback—good and bad always—but we love hearing it. We love hearing how you are using your Bronco... what's working for you, what isn't. Cause we can only imagine so many use cases. And when people are out there on the trails having problems, finding stuff, it really helps us to find those issues, make those changes. And we do look at the forums, we look at YouTube, what people are doing, we follow a lot of that (online social media). We also have our Bronco Ambassador program—so we have several ambassadors across the country, professional athletes, professional off-roaders, influencers who are using the vehicle, and they're reporting back how that's working for them. They're going to events as well and talking to customers. So we get feedback from all sorts of areas, and if there's a way that we can improve it (the Bronco), depending on what the changes are, we try to incorporate those as quickly as we can.

Alison
Yeah, I will say that the dealers are not shy about giving feedback, we get a lot of that. We just came from the dealer meeting in Las Vegas this past week, so we were with all of the dealers and got a ton of great feedback. That's always helpful, and talking to all of you is always really helpful.

@jparker : How hard is it to balance the desires of more off-road focused customers versus the more every-day use customers.

Alison
Yeah I will say I think the Bronco stock version as it comes is great for offroading and it's great for every day. So the whole purpose of Bronco is to make it your own, so that's why we offer accessories and that's why we love seeing what everyone's done with their Bronco. So the people that are more in the offloading, they can add stuff. People that just wanna drive it around town everyday, it's great for that too.

Donte
And to that point too, I guess from an experiences standpoint, we have a lot of the overlanding events, the King of the Hammers. But also apart of "open the outdoors to all" we wanted to kinda meet other customers where they are. If it be they use the majority of the Bronco for on-road experiences in the city, we also actually launched a Bronco lifestyle tour, where we're going to music festivals and different events like that also. So we could see really how customers express and use their Bronco. So whether it be the beach, or something in the city, we're also reaching new heights and new audiences with those events as well.

Matt
Yeah we try to balance those competing demands a lot, since off-road tires aren't always gonna get the best fuel economy, and having urban features or things that make it more livable in the city aren't always gonna be what you need to excel off-road. So we do work really hard to balance those, and we love getting feedback from the community—finding out how well car seats fit in, that the washout floor that we put in so you can get rid of the mud and dirt from going out to Moab also works well for Cheerios and spilled juice boxes. So we tried to make the vehicles excel as much as we can in both environments, and really respond to what customers need. So that it is a vehicle—I think it is a strength of the Bronco that you can go out and do the stuff that you did yesterday at Holly Oaks (ORV Park), or that we do at the Off Roadeos in Moab or in Texas.... get mud on the tires, go up stuff that a normal vehicle and anyone in their right mind probably would never want to do. And then wash it off—or don't, depending on what kind of street cred you want—and take it to work on Monday. It can sit in traffic, park in the parking lot, and it's very livable. Something that you can enjoy on the weekends, really beat off-road, and then come back and still be able to get to work. Know it's gonna start up that morning, know you're gonna have Apple CarPlay and a podcast on the way in to work, and start your day off well.

@Laura : When you're at Ford and looking at sales data, have you noticed that some trims and configurations are more popular in certain areas of the country? And if so, can you share some examples?

Matt
There are data (sets) like that—again everyone has a different used case for their Bronco, and there are some geographic areas that prefer different series a little bit more. Out west there's gonna be more BLM land, more rock crawling, those kind of things. Versus back east, especially like New Hampshire, upstate New York, it's a little bit tighter... the trees are a little bit tighter... the concern of pinstriping is a little bit more of a concern. So we do see that some series (are more popular), depending on the geography and the terrain. But also, other people wanting some of that (off-roading experiences), and are taking it out to King of the Hammers—they are going cross country. We meet people at all sorts of events coming from Florida, Georgia, heading all the way out west. So it's a pretty good mix, and some series are a little bit more popular with customers who want to go off-roading in those areas. So you're gonna see a little bit more of the Wildtrak in the areas that have more open space where that vehicle with excels in the high-speed desert racing.

@jparker : How does sharing a plant with the Ranger affect some of the Bronco decisions you all have to make when it comes to new trims, new colors, new parts so on and so forth?

Matt
It's a give-and-take. Compromise is definitely something we do work on with them. When we launched, they were very accommodating to help us get more production and get more vehicles out to our customers. Starting a new vehicle production is always a daunting task, so they were a great partner for that. And we're being a good partner for them now as the new Ranger comes online. But it does give us opportunities. So some of the things that might be a small part, or something that doesn't have a large take-rate for customers, but is shared now between the two platforms... that enables us to keep that in the plant longer and keep that available to customers, because we are able to share some of that. And we're also sharing information, sharing technology, we share colors—so a lot of those features we're able to work together on, get those into the plant, and get them out to customers faster. So it is a little bit of a give-and-take, but overall I think it benefits the customers.

@Laura : Can we get more detailed production numbers? 2-door vs 4-door? Manual vs automatic?

Matt
We'll be releasing some of the public information—that will be coming out for shareholders and things. I don't know if we'll get as granular—I know in the classic car world everyone wants to know exactly what's out there. I don't know if we'll be that granular at this point. But if there's a demand for it, if customers want that... we hear it and we'll see what we can do and what we're able to put out there.

@jparker : Was the decision to limit Big Bend to the 2.3L, and take away the 2.3L automatic on the Badlands more about providing a better differentiation between the upper and the lower trims? Or is there some other reason? Perhaps multiple reasons?

Matt
Multiple reasons. We're trying to, again, help customers find the right vehicle for them—streamline the process and really get everyone into the Bronco that is best suited to what their adventure is going to be. And by making some of those changes, we're hoping that helps customers decide what that is. Looking at the data that we have, and trying to get that out there, as well as streamlining the production, so that it's easier to get Broncos. I'm sure everyone experienced some of that wait time, and we're trying to minimize that and make it a little faster for customers.

@Laura : Was there a trim/package/set of options that ended up being less popular than you expected. And is there one that ended up being more popular?

Alison
I think in general Bronco Sport ended up exceeding everyone's expectations in becoming super popular. We've had good reception so far with Free Wheeling and Black Appearance Package. And then also the Heritage and Heritage Limited on Bronco Sport were really popular, so we've been very happy with all of those special editions.

Matt
Same for Bronco, Heritage has been extremely popular, we're really glad with that. Obviously the (Heritage) Limited is a little challenging to get. But the Heritage Edition in Race Red... people have been telling us that it's just their vehicle of their dreams, and they had one similar to that when they were younger growing up, and they just can't wait to get that. So that's been extremely popular and exceed our expectations. Sasquatch has also been great. I did not realize how many people needed 35 inch tires in their life. (Laughs.) But once you see it on the Bronco, you really do want that. And now obviously Raptor with 37s... people are just wanting to wanted to go bigger and bigger.

Jordan
Need verses Want is it important differentiation there...

😂

@jparker : How does a brand team deal with negative dealership behavior?

Donte
I think overall we get a lot of the information either word-of-mouth or through email communication from our Zone Managers. So we have actual field reps that work our in the various regions, and they actually are at the specific dealerships. And then we also have a regional office. There is 23 regional offices around the entire country that actually get a lot of that feedback. So a lot of times one or two ways it'll come back from the Zone Manager or someone at the in the regional office will shoot a note up to the brand team. Sometimes you get situation where customers actually write a letter to Bill Ford just to explain the history and how disappointed they are. We do take those into account. There's times where typically a regional manager will make a phone call or a visit to talk to those dealers that are doing things that they should not be doing. I know it's very hard—a lot of you are long time Ford customers, and sometimes you feel like the dealer is taking advantage of you just because of the current situation with allocation of vehicles and things of that nature. So we are aware, we take that into account, and yes there are times where we actually reach out to the dealer specifically to let them know about the situation—hopefully to rectify it. But we do know.

@Laura - Does the Ford team have any guidelines you follow to make sure the aftermarket stays robust and in the loop with future changes? Are there certain accessories Ford will not develop in house because a team feels the aftermarket can do it better?

Matt
We try to stay up with our aftermarket partners as close as we can. Part of us coming to this these events is to see the modifications that the customers are making—that you are making your vehicle—and hear about how those experiences are going. If it's been a positive experience, if it's been negative, what we can do to improve. We're definitely not looking to take or borrow any ideas from the aftermarket community, we do have our own programs and development processes. But there is nothing that we wouldn't wanna go after and develop necessarily. If there is the opportunity, if there's demand from customers for a certain part, feature, ability to upfit, or customize their Bronco, and it's within the capability of Ford to do, we always like to have a factory or Ford Performance parts option available to customers. However, some things are just some niche or small items that we can't necessarily produce at the scale we need to, and that's where the aftermarket really excels. So we know that a lot of customers prefer certain specialty colors... maybe it's their college colors—something like that... so the aftermarket is a great opportunity to provide those kind of opportunities to customers if they want to do that level of customization.

@jparker : Any chance of a larger gas tank in the 2-door from model year 24 or beyond?

Matt
There will be no change to the 2-door fuel tank in the 24 model year.

@jparker : 25 model year? You don't have to answer that.

Matt
I can't talk about future product.

@jparker : Will there be Blue Cruise on model year 24 or beyond.

Matt
Not on the 24 model year.

@Laura : Does the brand management have a list of vendors who's products will or won't affect warranty?

Matt
That's a great question. If you are concerned about your warranty I would talk to your dealer before you put any parts on and consult them. And stay within the Ford family, we have a lot of accessories with Ford Performance Parts, Ford Accessories—those are gonna be the best options if you want to maintain your warranty. A lot of people I know like to put new wheels and tires, new suspension, again that specific use case as to what kind of adventures you wanna have. If you're doing major modifications though, I would talk to your dealer and see how that might impact your warranty. Especially with larger tire changes. So if you don't have a Sasquatch and you want to go to a 35 inch tire, really consider the geometry of that suspension and some of the issues that could cause to maintain that warranty.

@jparker : The new robust steering gear that's now on the Badlands and Wildtrak for 24 model year... is that the same steering gear that was previously included as a part of HOSS 3.0 or something totally different?

Matt
That is the same robust steering gear from HOSS 3.0. We took feedback from customers, and now that's included on the Badlands and Sasquatch vehicles. So we want customers feel confident out there on the trail, and provide just a little bit stronger more robust experience. So now you have a little bit more vehicle that you can use, and really put the Bronco through it's paces, as it's meant to be, and have a lot of fun with it out there on the trail.

Audience Question: How can we use the Trail App more as a navigation device and assistant within the Bronco as opposed to just recording the adventure?

Matt
Great suggestion, we are working really hard with that. And we are in the comments on the forums looking for an all those kinds of suggestions as we develop that app a little bit more. We have just recently pushed out a new update, so we are trying to make that experience better, while also adding a new trails, expanding the capability of the Trail app, and getting more customers to start using that. That is a Bronco-exclusive future we really want. Like I said before, first you go to Off-Roadeo, you learn the basics of the Bronco, what it is is capable of doing... you join Bronco Nation and come to some off-roading events. And we'd like the next step to be the Bronco Trail app where customers are using that for route planning, planning trips, finding the outdoors near their home—because we all can't get to Moab every weekend like I'm sure we'd want to. So that really, I think, helps customer see how close some of those off-roading opportunities are, and we want that to be a great tool they can use to expand their knowledge of off-roading and expand their connection with the vehicle. We're really working on developing that, and taking feedback like you gave us here, and incorporating that quickly as we can. Apps are fairly new to Ford so we're still working on that. Obviously I think we got that the building-the-car part down, it's just some of the new app stuff that we're working through the bugs on.

Audience Question: When will the Trail app be compatible with the Bronco Sport?

Matt
We're taking feedback. Can't comment about future products... but really it is based off of the success of the Trail app. The more customers that are downloading it, the more usage that we get. I get weekly reports that show how many customers have download it that are new, how many customers download a map, how many miles were driven, all that kind of information to see what's happening. The more success we have with the Trail app, the chance of being able to bring it to other platforms increases.

Audience Question: What surprised you about the production, development, go-to market strategy of the vehicle that have surprised the team?

Alison
Not so much about the vehicle, but as I said before, I worked on F-150 before this. The customers for Bronco are totally different than F-150 customers. Just seeing the passion and excitement from all of you makes this so cool for me, so I think that's one thing that really surprised me about Bronco. I'm not naturally a car person—I don't know if I'm allowed to say that—but I've become one through my job, and it's really cool to see what all of you do with your Broncos and how you all come together centered around Bronco.

Matt
Yeah, I was going to also say the customer. I think that's the thing that surprised me the most, all of you who are we are willing to come from all across the country to events in Michigan, meet us out on the trails out at King of the Hammers, or Moab. And the level of knowledge—how into the vehicle people are getting—and the quality of the questions. It all helps make the brand better. We try to make the vehicle as best we can to meet those use cases of customers have. But the feedback we get, the passion from the community that really drives us and energizes us to try to make the Bronco better and make it be what the community wants it to be. Try to get as many (people) out on the trails as we can, and convert any customer we can to a Bronco. I always say the best way to sell a Bronco is to just get someone behind the wheel of it out on the trail, and they'll probably realize that they need to be an off-roader or suddenly get into overlanding or get more into camping. It's just great to see.

Donte
I think for me, yeah, definitely just the community—specifically Bronco Nation. When I got in this role back in October I think we were at 16,000 members and then I know Robert this morning said we're at 25,000. So when you think about a community that's growing, and now I'm an official off-roader—deemed by Melissa Clark. I've never done a off-roading but the community has been so welcoming that I can now just get behind the wheel with Matt or someone else... and I'm hitting those trails like everybody else and getting behind a vehicle. Our goal is to help turn you all into life-long enthusiasts, but I've become one as well. So definitely the community has been big.

Matt
Just one little anecdote with this community. Obviously we had a some delays and took a while to get everyone there Bronco, and coming to these events we try to have Broncos there that people could see, but there's only so many marketing fleet units we had. The community was so great, I've seen so many people who had gotten their Bronco offer the keys to someone that they just met who was waiting on a similar trim series, let them sit in, let them take it for a ride—take them for a ride, take them out on the trails. And I've just never seen that with any other community, where they would be so open, so willing to share their Bronco, share the experience with strangers. You show up at a Bronco Nation event as strangers and leave as friends. And it was great to see everyone wanted to share that—want to share their Bronco with other people and really bring the community together. So it was just amazing to see someone willing to take a something that was so personal, so expensive, so new to them, and want to share it with someone right there on the spot... just cause they know how great it is

Jordan
Yeah I remember the first meet up we had with somebody other than us had a new Bronco and we were like, "finally somebody has one!" So to be here today, just to pack this parking lot out, and have over 300 Broncos registered for the corral tomorrow is really cool to see this whole thing come full circle. It's no longer "when am I getting my Bronco"—it's now "come look at my Bronco". So for us, and I'm sure for you guys, that's a welcome change.

Audience Question: Bronco Ladies Club request—can we get Bronco color-matched nail polish?

Alison
Definitely not the first time we heard this. We've heard this one a few times... we will take it into consideration—I think it would be pretty cool. But can't talk about future, sorry.

Audience Question: Are you guys tracking what vehicles people are coming from?

Alison
That is data that we get—all manufactures get it—based on vehicle registration. So it is something we take a look at. I think there is a lot coming from Jeep.

Matt
A lot of people are coming from other off-road brands. They want to see the Bronco and experience that. We are are also seeing people coming from non-off-road specific vehicles and really getting into the lifestyle, getting into Bronco. We see that as a gateway vehicle for people to get into the off-road lifestyle, get out in nature, experience other sports, be part of a community, that's what it really is all about the Bronco. We wanted to provide those opportunities to people. I think people are seeing that we have this great robust community of people. We try to make it (off-roading) as easy as possible with the Bronco. If you're in dirt, put it in Dirt mode. If are rock crawling, put it in the Rock Crawl mode. The GOAT modes are there to make it as fun and as accessible as possible. So we have seen a lot of people coming from other vehicles, sedans, pickup trucks, different vehicles like that who want to get into this, and see the Bronco as that opportunity to get them off-road, while also having a vehicle that's gonna be able to get them where they need to go on the highways, to work, and those kind of things. So it's a great vehicle for that as well.

Audience Question: Is the Bronco really limited to 3500 lbs... or... can I push it?

Jordan
I'm sure their answer is, yes, it is limited to 3500 lbs.

Matt
Yes, I'm not an engineer on the team. So what they've told us is what our official answer is.

Jordan
Did a lady come up to me in California three weeks ago saying she tows her 6800 pound camper behind a stock Outer Banks? She sure did. Am I endorsing that? Absolutely not, just saying. However there were spy photos that came out yesterday of a Bronco towing a large trailer. I'm not giving anything away, those pictures are publicly on the Internet but... just throwing it out there.

Matt
It might be more of an issue of "can it" versus "should it".

Jordan
... and can you versus should you.

Audience Question: Will we ever get to meet the @Ford Motor Company user on the forums?

Matt (Teasing)
I mean... if they ever get out of the basement at Ford we might let them... ya know. Once they get caught up in all the forums and have read everyone's comments, we might let them out. But we'll save that for next year.

END​