Export case study: Mustang Mach-E X Chrome

Recently, Ford Motor Company made one of the biggest decisions they’ve ever made – to brand their first ever All-Electric vehicle as a Mustang: The Mustang Mach-E. Mustang is more than just a badge; it’s Ford’s iconic sports car brand since the 1960’s. Untouchable, some would say. Not only would Ford ditch the vehicle’s legendary V8 engine for an electric battery, but the new vehicle would also be an SUV, not a coupe. Needless to say, the announcement sent ripples across the automotive industry, particularly when it came to Mustang’s existing hardcore fanbase, sparking the hashtag ‘#notamustang’. 

Ford challenged Chrome, a full service, award winning, boutique production company specialising in online digital content for the world’s leading brands  to create a documentary film that confronted the critics head on by proving that due care and consideration was going into every phase of development to ensure that this vehicle was deserving of the Mustang badge.

Chrome answered the challenge by exploring what’s beneath the badge: the Mustang ‘spirit’. Six existing Mustang owners were gathered and interviewed to uncover what it means to drive a Mustang – from the performance of the vehicle to the indescribable feeling it gives you to slip behind the wheel. These interviews were then interspersed with interviews from the Mustang development team – aptly titled “Team Edison” – to demonstrate that they had all of the same feelings as the owners and were stopping at nothing to ensure that this new vehicle would be imbued with the Mustang spirit and worthy of the badge. It was a technique that connected the brand to its customers – aligning them in one common goal: to keep the spirit of Mustang alive. Content captured during the shoot was also edited down into social snippets titled ‘MYTHBUSTERS: Dispelling the myths around electric vehicles’ and released as hygiene content throughout the year.

The main film premiered at the Global Launch event in Los Angeles, hosted by Idris Elba. The twenty-minute film and its trailer were incredibly well received and have generated over 1.5 million views collectively on YouTube. It continues to engage the Mustang fanbase and spark meaningful online conversation about the future of the brand.

Chrome is a full service, award winning, boutique production company specialising in online digital content for the world’s leading brands. Chrome’s body of work and client pool demonstrates diversity but with a singular thread throughout: cinematic, emotional storytelling.