Ford teamed up with Team Detroit and TEN: The Enthusiast Network for a series documenting one family’s trip across the country, taking only backroads.
The campaign promoting the 2016 Ford Explorer, which launched earlier this month, follows the Collins family as they make their way east from Portland to Portland, exploring America through its backroads. As Jeremy explains in the first episode in the series, following its brief introduction (see below for both), it wasn’t exactly a no-brainer decision for the family to accept the challenge as “crossing the entire country from Portland to Portland, using only the backroads, that’s not an easy task.” But, difficult as the experience was, it was also a learning experience for the family. In the most recent video, launched Friday, they discuss how it’s given them a chance to disconnect from laptops and smart phones and connect with each other. The series, which runs on GrindTV.com, Ford.com and Ford’s YouTube channel offers a nice change of pace from the typical category fare and a convincing sense of authenticity (at least relative to what you’d typically expect) that should appeal to the kinds of families who would buy an Explorer. With two episodes left to go, and the family still in the midwest, there’s plenty more to the journey and Ford will release new videos for the series soon.
Credits:
Client: Ford Motor Company
Campaign: “The New Explorers ”
Spot: “The New Explorers” Video 1 and 2
FORD
Truck / SUV Digital Marketing Manager-Matt Zuehlk
Digital Marketing Manager-Lisa Schoder
TEAM DETROIT
EVP, Executive Creative Director-Matt Soldan
SVP, Group Creative Director-Sue Mersch
Associate Creative Director-Sanja Dardagan
Senior Copywriter-Michael O’Connell
Paid Digital Account Executive-Jaime Schram
Paid Digital Account Supervisor- Ashlee Boyer-Shaw
Executive Digital Producer-Christian Colasuonno
Senior Digital Producer-Matt Caruana
TEN: THE ENTHUSIAST NETWORK
Director of Video, Sports and Entertainment-Chris Mauro
Editor-Scott Smith
Photographer-JP Van Swae
VP, Sales Sports & Entertainment-Kristen Ude
Sr. Director, OEM Sales, East-Michael DeTurris
Integrated Sales Manager, Carrie Roeder
DIRECTOR
Director-Michael Paul Jones
WAZEE MOTION PICTURES
Director of Photography- Skip Armstrong
Producer-Jay Gifford
Producer-Shannon Ethridge
Producer-Aimee Tetreault
Lead Production Assistant-Tom O’Meara
Production Assistant-Chelsie Booker
2nd Camera Operator-Matt Baker
1st Assistant Camera / Rigger- Blake Hendrix
2nd Assistant Camera- Fred Norquist
Digital Image Technician- Tim Hardy
Sound- Fred Helm