Ram
Ram has a brilliant marketing plan to sell their coveted trucks – bring the trucks to the places that truck-buyers congregate. This plan seems simple, but it is often overlooked by other automakers.
In 2016, Ram did just that. By bringing the Ram Truck Territory Ride & Drive to the 5 biggest agriculture shows (and letting them drive and ride in the trucks), Ram delivered many important impressions on buyers. This year’s ag show list included:
- World Agriculture Expo – Tulare, CA: 2/8 – 2/12/16
- Wisconsin Farm Technology Days – Zenda, WI: 7/18 – 7/22/16
- Farm Progress Show – Boone, IA: 8/28 – 9/2/16
- Husker Harvest Days – Grand Island, NE: 9/12 – 9/16/16
- Sunbelt Ag Expo – Moultrie, GA: 10/17- 10/21/16
Luckily, the ag events weren’t plagued with rain this year as they were in 2015. In fact, of all of the event days in this year’s tour, only part of one day was lost to foul weather conditions.
The new format for these events has Gordinier Group drivers piloting the trucks on the interior, off-road track. GG drivers tackle the precision driving on the off-road obstacles while delivering information – specs, features, and why buys – to the passenger guests.
Meanwhile, 3 tow vehicles circle the perimeter of the space, giving guests the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a tow rig to experience Ram’s best in class towing prowess. Guests chose between a 3500 dually with a gooseneck trailer (loaded with Case farm equipment), a 2500 pulling a horse trailer full of hay, or a 1500 with trailer loaded with a side-by-side or personal watercraft. In this situation, GG drivers ride shotgun, giving towing tips and product details.
Together, these two tracks give guests a nice picture of what the trucks are capable of doing in practical situations.
April 1-3, 2016
Ram Trucks once again rolled out the red carpet for guests of the Academy of Country Music Awards Party for a Cause participants.
As a warm up for the ACM Awards, PFAC has turned into it’s own premier, 3-day event and Ram was the gold sponsor for 2016. PFAC boasted performances by the likes of Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Lee Brice and other top acts. What’s more, the event raised over $500,000 for various charities.
For Gordinier Group, this event is an opportunity for our drivers to give exposure to the full lineup of Ram trucks – from the 2016 1500 Laramie Limited, to the 2016 Ram 3500 Laramie Longhorn. The 5.7L Hemi, 6.4L Hemi. 3.0L EcoDiesel and 6.7L Cummins Diesel were all represented in our fleet of test ride trucks. We even had a 2017 Power Wagon on display.
GG drivers drove guests on an exciting, closed-course off-road track featuring obstacles such as berms, moguls, culverts, logs and a mobile mountain. During the experience, drivers described best-in-class features and benefits, as well as giving an overview of what is dynamically happening with the vehicle as it conquers each obstacle. With the thousands of people attending PFAC, this was a great way for Ram to engage with one of their most desirable marketing demographics.
Another successful Ram summer ride and drive series has sadly come to an end. The 2015 rodeo and farm show tours saw the best weather and more importantly, the best crowds that we have experienced to date.
This year, both tours saw the addition of the 2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, which was a great addition to the drive fleet! Guests were amazed by the torque, lack of typical diesel noise, and the amazing fuel economy (up to 29 mpg).
As the Ram Trucks brand continues to build momentum and win market share, we continue to see (and welcome) increased interest and participation in the ride and drive events.
Hats off to Ram on another great season!
Rodeo Tour:
Cheyenne Frontier Days – Cheyenne, WY
Colorado State Fair – Pueblo, CO
Oklahoma State Fair – Oklahoma City, OK
Heart O’ Texas Fair – Waco TX
Farm Show Tour:
Wisconsin Farm Tech Days – Madison, WI
Farm Progress – Decatur, IL
Husker Harvest Days – Grand Island, NE
Sunbelt Expo – Moultrie, GA
April 18,2015
The Mission – to coordinate and operate the largest truck parade in the world with the best truck brand in the world (Ram, of course), in order to set a Guinness World Record
The Magic Number – 439 (The previous record was 438)
The Venue – AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys
The Result – 451 Ram trucks in a constantly-moving, evenly-spaced parade formation
Gordinier Group was once again fortunate to be able to help G7 Entertainment Marketing and Ram Trucks to put together this record-breaking effort, while treating loyal Ram owners to a once in a lifetime experience while visiting the Academy of Country Music Awards in Arlington, Texas.
To say that organizing this parade was logistically challenging would be an understatement. Imagine coordinating nearly 500 trucks and their owners, having them line up in a parking lot, start a parade procession at the same time, and keep them all moving continuously over a 3.4 mile route, without stopping at any point. All of this needed to happen on the busy streets of the AT&T Stadium campus, in the lead-up to the Academy of Country Music Awards…kind of a busy area.
The entire activity was closely watched by the Guinness World Record Adjudicator, who flew to Dallas to make sure that all of the required elements were satisfied in order to win the record.
The announcement came later in the day – to a collective sigh of relief from all of the planners, Ram execs and participants. Our parade was certified at 451 vehicles (13 above the previous record)!
Whew.
All in all, this was a great events for loyal Ram owners, who were treated to a once in a lifetime experience. Not only were they able to participate in an official world record, they were treated to tickets and parking for the Party For A Cause, Ram gift bags, Ram vehicle and partner display area, live music and Raminator monster truck crushing demos.
Motor Trend wrote a nice recap of the event here.
Here is a YouTube video recap of the parade.