15 Minutes with Jeep’s Top Marketer

Robert Hegbloom Shares His Views

At Jeeperz.com & TruckWorld.com, we were fortunate to catch up with Robert Hegbloom, Senior Brand Manager, Jeep Marketing, and ask him why of all the nameplates in the world, Jeep remains an enduring icon and a lifestyle. Rather than marketing buzzwords and psychographics, what we heard was validation for enthusiasts and a dedication to the core audience of Jeep owners.

1. SEMA conducted the latest of their Automotive Lifestyles surveys, in which they asked enthusiasts about new vehicle purchases. In the SUV segment, the Wrangler still ranks as one of the top sellers. Why is it that despite the downturn in the economy, Wrangler sales haven’t fallen off the way the TrailBlazer, Explorer or 4Runner have?

Bob Hegbloom (RH): While we’ve done some product positioning, Jeep ownership is more of a lifestyle. We appeal to adventurers, people who are engaged in outdoor activities and do go offroading. That’s where our products go, and what we’re known for. Here’s some of what our research tells us:

58% of the adventurer segment go off road.

Jeep owners are into their families, and their vehicle is an enabler.

41% like to camp out, and to fish; and

Except for trucks, at 58% Jeep has the highest percentage of owners who buy American.

Repeat buyers? Owners are loyal to the Jeep nameplate and the brand, and on a make-to-make basis, we’ve seen an increase year after year since ’05. We of course want to continue this trend, and we know it means we need to deliver a quality product that they’ve come to expect from Jeep.

Conquest buyers come from three places: (1) Loyal consumers who had a Jeep previously and are coming back to the brand; (2) first time buyers attracted by incentives and offers; and (3) those who have aspired to own a Jeep, who like our image in the marketplace.

One of those little things that means a lot is the Jeep ‘wave’ – that common sign of acknowledging one owner to another who both belong to a larger community. You can’t buy this kind of loyalty. Its authenticity can’t be duplicated by any of our competitors.

2. Jeep owners accessorize and modify their vehicles more than perhaps any other group or segment in the automotive marketplace. To what do you attribute this – is it a lifestyle or an unwritten code among Jeep owners?

RH: It’s really a little bit of both – accessories are available for our products, maybe to a greater extent than anything else that’s out there and Jeep owners love to personalize their vehicles. You go out on the Rubicon Trail and you see modified vehicles as I have, and you notice the extensive modifications that some owners have made. The flip side is that even in a relatively ‘stock’ Jeep Wrangler with few modifications, you can still run the Rubicon. With Jeep, our message has always been ‘go out and experience it’.

Another part of the Jeep experience is that it spans the ages. It doesn’t matter what age you are, even well into your 60s or 70s, or if you’re a part of the younger demographic that has embraced them, they all understand its authenticity.

3. As one of the largest web sites for Jeep enthusiasts, we see certain trends – rock crawling and lifting, for example. What do these types of activities do for Jeep, and are there other things you’re doing to enhance the ownership experience?

RH: These activities do help us go after certain age groups, life cycles, and so on. Above all, we want to stay true to our core. We need to understand and target this marketplace, while remaining true to the adventurer segment.

Our owners by and large have an active, healthy lifestyle and so we partner with companies who share our vision, as we continue to look for other ways to connect to our audience in a positive way. Camp Jeep is an event we host once a year in the U.S., and next year we’ll add a camp in Europe although it’s premature to talk about our U.S. activities while we’re still working on our go-to-market plans.

Tying in with Jeep Jamborees, all our event activities are done with BBDO, one of our advertising agencies. While we do advertise on broadcast TV, from our perspective we’ve found that the Internet resonates with consumers, and we’re revamping our Web sites as a result. Creatively, we are looking for more event opportunities and venues in which we can get people engaged with our brand.

Down the road, we’re looking at bringing our Jeep dealers on board, linking their sites to ours, sharing content and even trying to get their parts inventory listed online. Take the old Wrangler CJ – we know our dealers carry NOS (new old stock) parts and accessories, and ideally we would like to enable clubs across the country and even outside the U.S. to access their inventories.

One of the organizations that we admire and would like to emulate is the Harley Owners Group, or H.O.G. as they’re known. I think it starts with the right name, and Jeep is a brand that can do this. It’s one of the ideas we’ve kicked around; maybe your audience can help us with naming the club.

4. Our last question is one involving cross over vehicles, or CUVs, which again according to SEMA shows the Jeep Patriot as the runaway leader in the Small CUV class, with a whopping 145% change in January – June sales this year versus last. Chevy’s HHR and Kia’s Sportage are both in this class, but neither can match the huge increase in sales that the Patriot has achieved. Any idea why consumers have embraced the Patriot?

RH: The Jeep Patriot has done extremely well for us, and its 30 MPG, best-in-class fuel

economy has helped it outpace the competition. A Best Buy recommendation on a number of leading automotive Web sites doesn’t hurt either, and more buyers are giving it serious consideration. Again, it is a Jeep and all the attributes of the brand and a legacy no one can touch have given us an edge. We hope the aftermarket will make it their own as they have with every other Jeep vehicle, making it a favorite of enthusiasts.

We appreciate Bob taking the time to speak with us, and hope to have him back again to give us an insider’s view of what’s happening at Jeep. If you’ve enjoyed this interview and would like to have us query other movers and shakers in the Jeep world, feel free to contact us at Jason@EONdrive.com.