Description

As Ford’s flagship brand, the Next-Gen Ranger needed a majestic and powerful launch idea that would embody its positioning of living without limits, with the sole objective of redefining the bakkie (pick-up truck) category. The Next-Gen Ranger’s capabilities have been relooked from scratch resulting in a fully equipped machine that can tackle anything. An enabler that allows individuals to live without limits, whether it’s traversing the city or challenging landscapes, the Next-Gen Ranger goes beyond, making accessibility anyone’s game. The film follows three different characters in three different landscapes each with three different models of the Next-Gen Ford Ranger. The film taps into a human truth – it is not just an exploration of a vehicle’s capabilities, but rather a deeper, emotional longing for freedom, magic and wonder to exist in a world where you can feel truly unlimited. The vehicles are portrayed with the immense power to move mountains, haul oceans and heave forests to bridge the gap between adventure and urban life. The commercial gradually leaves more and more breadcrumbs along its way, clues that allude to the notion that the Next-Gen Ford Rangers are in fact towing entire landscapes (mountain, ocean, forest) to your doorstep. The approach portrays the Next-Gen Ford Ranger as a vehicle that transcends boundaries and limitations and unlocks your world in unimaginable ways, redefining what we believe to be possible.

Brief

The Ranger is Ford South Africa’s flagship brand and tops the sales leaderboard. But in a challenging market that is becoming saturated with competitors, Ford needed to launch their Next Gen Ranger in a way that would redefine the bakkie (pick-up trucks) category. We needed to shift the perception of the Next Gen Ford Ranger from just a bakkie to the most desirable car in South Africa, built to tackle anything. The strong sentiment to live unconfined is widespread in South Africa and therefore it was imperative to break the stereotypical view of what bakkie drivers look like or use bakkies for, thus welcoming all those with a desire to grab life by the horns irrespective of who they are, making the Next-Gen Ford Ranger, the most desirable car for all South Africans. We needed to inspire drivers to go out there and live unlimited.

Solution

The essence of the Next-Gen Ford Ranger is to inspire people to break boundaries and live without limits, whether it’s traversing the city or challenging landscapes. The Next-Gen Ranger is a vehicle that can go beyond this to bring entire worlds onto people’s doorsteps, closing the gap between urban life and adventure.

We broke the stereotypical view of who bakkie drivers are by featuring three diversely different characters in three different landscapes, each with three different models of the Next-Gen Ford Ranger. The commercial portrays the immense power of the vehicles and gradually leaves clues that allude to the notion that the Next-Gen Ford Rangers are in fact towing entire landscapes (mountain, ocean, forest), bringing adventure closer and making accessibility anyone’s game.

The campaign is simultaneously emotionally moving as well as intellectually stimulating, opening-up the possibilities of the category. The tone of the film taps into a human truth - it is not just an exploration of a vehicle’s capabilities, but rather a deeper, emotional longing for freedom, magic and wonder to exist in a world where you can feel truly unlimited, no matter who you are.