Women Come to Bronco Off-Roadeo as Novices, Leave as Passionate Enthusiasts

Off-Roadeos go further than any new vehicle dealer showroom. They allow potential and current Bronco owners and brand enthusiasts to experience the capabilities of the Michigan-based automaker's three Bronco-branded off-roaders, Bronco (two- and four-door) and Bronco Sport.

"When we made the decision to reintroduce the Ford Bronco, we knew we had to differentiate ourselves from the competition and simply being a better or more capable vehicle wouldn't be enough. We had to stay true to Bronco's authenticity and heritage," Will Ford, general manager of Ford Performance and great-great-grandson of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, told Newsweek.

Bronco Off-Roadeo was born, aimed at fostering a relationship with the Bronco Nation online community and to encourage safe, responsible off-roading.

"We saw that opportunity for building a Bronco community, but we also saw an opportunity for education. A lot of the people we talked to said they liked the idea of off-roading, but the first hurdle is that they don't know where to start. They don't have friends in the community to show them the ropes. And they didn't have a place to learn safely or responsibly. Bronco Off-Roadeo could be all of those things," he said.

There are five Bronco Off-Roadeo locations throughout the U.S. "We needed more than just a good set of trails at Bronco Off-Roadeo. We needed variety in the terrain, topography and landscape that felt truly wild. Our five locations do that. And with the exception of New Hampshire, which sits on an active ski resort and shuts down for the winter, we can run year-round," Will Ford said.

"Moab is the heart of American off-road culture, while Nevada and Texas show very different sides of the U.S. Southwest. New Hampshire is a wildly different visual, running through thick pines. And we always intended to have a fifth location in the American Southeast; we established that site, Bronco Off-Roadeo Tennessee, which opened late last year. Today, we have an Off-Roadeo within 500 miles of 80 percent of Bronco customers, and every location has a major airport within two hours of it," he said.

Those that attend Off-Roadeos need not have any experience off-roading. "Off-Roadeo is open to all. Men, women, novices or pros, our trail guides and programs are there to make Bronco owners and fans more comfortable and confident off-road," Will Ford said.

"More than half of the women that experience Bronco Off-Roadeo have never turned a wheel off-road, but over 90 percent say they want to off-road again after their day in the Bronco," he said.

Bronco Off-Roadeo does more than turn attendees into Bronco fans, it makes them Ford customers. "We've welcomed over 65,000 people since opening our first locations in 2021, and over 26,000 of those were guests that came with Bronco owners. Half of the guests had never owned a Ford product before. That makes Bronco Off-Roadeo their first real experience with the Ford brand, and in a lot of cases, it keeps them coming back. Since 2022, around 4.3 percent of Bronco Off-Roadeo guests have bought a Ford product after their visit—everything from Bronco and Bronco Sport to F-Series, Super Duty and Maverick," Will Ford said.

The successful formula is an expansion of tried-and-true customer engagement methods for off-roading already in place by brands including Land Rover and Jeep. Rivian is taking a similar tack, opening its "Space" in Joshua Tree National Park as an off-roading experience center.

The trail blazed by Ford Bronco Off-Roadeo, the experiential marketing model and its translation into real-world sales, is why Ford Motor Company is Newsweek's 2025 Marketing Disruptor of the Year.

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