The last time I spoke to Ford Mustang Marketing Manager Jim Owens, he revealed a sobering statistic: Mustang buyers are getting older. This comes at a time when nameplates like the Corvette, Dodge Challenger, and Dodge Charger all have younger, wealthier, and more diverse customers compared to previous years.
However, Owens and his company are working to bring that age down.
“The segment has shrunk over the years,” Owens admitted in a one-on-one interview with MC&T. “The cake of people who are sports car directors is much smaller. So if this cake is shrinking what do you do? It’s more experiential. It’s about getting them into the product so they can feel what it’s doing. “
Ford Mustang Marketing Man Jim Owens. Image rights to Manoli Katakis, Muscle Cars & Trucks.
That’s not to say that there isn’t a strong foundation of Millennials who are Mustang True Believers. There is even a club for them.
“The Mustang Millennial Club, we have a millennial club that was started by a millennial who is a hardcore geek and we are trying to get them into vehicles on an interactive basis,” Owens said.
There is quite a contrast in tastes and demeanor among the more experienced Mustang groups that make up the over 170 recognized Mustang Club of America charts.
“Many (Mustang clubs) are show and shine, you come up, you park, you make your cars and coffee and hang out,” the Mustang manager continued. “What we found with the younger population group is that they need to be more experiential. They want autocross, time attacks, tests and melodies. “
Photo credit: Neil Britton, Muscle Cars & Trucks
Bring the Ford Mustang to adventure events
Ford Performance’s marketing strategy also relies heavily on the support of famous drivers. Faces like Vaughn Gittin Jr., Hailie Deegan and Joey Logano all take on the job of defending the brand in different ways, while Ken Block worked with Big Blue for years before he recently split with the brand to embark on a new path with Audi walk. These drivers come regularly to events like the Gridlife Festival and demonstrate their driving skills in extreme Ford Performance vehicles like the Mustang Mach-E 1400.
“We joined Gridlife ATL with Vaughn Gittin Jr in 2019,” said Owens. “We did Velocity in Laguna Seca … we like gridlife and other opportunities that other activities in the area entail.”
Copyright Steven Pham, Muscle Cars & Trucks
Manage millennial tastes
This extensive effort to attract younger Ford Mustang buyers isn’t really something we’ve seen with previous generations, as it seems that Millennials need more stimulation overall.
“It does (need to put in more effort to attract millennials). Both from the standpoint of segment size and from the standpoint of activation. You really have to have the ability and the ability to do that, ”Owens admitted. “We have started testing different activities that we can participate in.” (turns around and asks) “What was that about the balloon? The Albuquerque Balloon Festival. We went to an air show in Sacramento. We wanted to go to a seafood festival in New Hampshire. It wasn’t aimed at millennials. “
Jim Owens said that this strategy of associating the Ford Mustang with events has a lot to do with the personality types who attend them.
“You bring someone with you who has an affinity for something, and then you catch up with them and screw them onto the side of the vehicle. Since this affinity group is already motivated enough to carry out an activity, they are ready to get involved. “
Will Ford be able to bring the average age of Mustang buyers down to the level of the Dodge Challenger and Charger? With the Mach-E electric SUV available in stores today and the S650 model just around the corner, time will tell.
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