Your Google searches helped shape a hot new Mustang Mach-E campaign.
The surge in online activity over the past year showed people looking for information about the Mustang “Mach-E vs” Tesla and other competitors — along with general information about electric vehicles — and inspired Ford Motor Co. to launch a campaign called, “Mach-E vs. Everything.”
In it, Ford reveals five short films for YouTube, plus a new 15-second TV ad.
They’re high-octane video versions of the corporate FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions.
Imagine 92 seconds of 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, who works remotely from home in Grosse Pointe Park.
“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 really is, an attempt to ease range anxiety among potential buyers who fear the batteries may run out of juice.
Rather than leaving things up to the imagination, Ford shows what it all looks like.
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 prior to the campaign, illustrated a hunger for more information, Ford said.
The video spots open with warnings: Do not attempt to reenact.
Stunt drivers are featured, and it’s obvious. 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 0-60 mph in 4.8 seconds. They illustrate what traveling 300 miles on a battery looks like using a rocket. They illustrate 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.
A typical car vs. car comparison this is not.
Ford unveiled the five spots on Thursday, making them available on YouTube.
It combines Hollywood-like action shots and sound, much like the “Fast & Furious” film franchise does, into ads for an all-electric vehicle.
These spots range from 92 seconds to 146 seconds long.
Meanwhile, Ford is planning a 15-second ad to air on TV from Feb. 15-20 during prime-time periods, including early and late news on NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox.
More:No one knew secret behind Ford’s Mustang Mach-E, Bronco Sport — until now
More:Ford Motor team had to plead with Bill Ford to give back not-yet-released Mustang
While the Rocket film was shot in the Mojave Desert in California, the other four film shorts were filmed in the same place as the Oscar-winning “Ford v. Ferrari” Hollywood film — the airport in Ontario, California.
Ford wanted to educate and entertain with “bold, unexpected experiments.”
Few consumers want to watch boring tutorials on all-electric vehicles. This, to some, may feel like “MythBusters,” the show that proved or disproved scientific claims.
Perhaps Jim Farley just grew tired of trying to convince skeptics that a Mustang is a Mustang, even if it’s all-electric and re-imagined in 2021.
Collectors have criticized Ford for putting the iconic nameplate on an SUV.
And Farley, the new CEO, has been unswerving in his attempt to persuade. For some, he has unique credibility as a gearhead who races cars.
So now the company is using film to make its case.
Show, don’t tell.
Credit for the work goes to Ford’s creative partner BBDO NY and 1stAveMachine directors Aaron Duffy and Bob Partington, who have earned a reputation for their technical expertise in filmmaking.
More:Ford makes come-from-behind push with Mach-E as industry enters new era
More:Ford’s secret weapon has a passion for batteries and came from NASA
More:Ford confirms delay of hundreds of 2021 Mustang Mach-E deliveries for quality review
This article was edited for clarification after publishing.
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-222-6512 orphoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.