Addressing Bronco Nation Friction

[BroncOBX]

Bronco nation is ran by Ford. So it isn't surprising they want their content out first. Not to mention they want people to subscribe to their content with a membership "PAID". It's basically community ran and operated by Ford for profit.

Bronco Nation isn't organic, grassroots and unfiltered; Bronco6G.com is. That's the difference and why B6G is so successful and larger than BN. I have no issues with Ford setting up Bronco Nation; its part of their marketing and outreach plan. Any big business with a hot product will or should try to tap into the enthusiasm. But instead of hindering B6G members maybe they should work with and play nicely with us? It might actually drive some B6G members to their site.

(Full disclosure: I am a non-paying forum member at BN but their membership and post volume is such a small fraction of B6G that I find it having little utility for me compared to B6G. I don't think I've made a single post reply there.)

Plus their swag sucks.

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[Heffe66413]

It would be nice if the G6 forum had an online marketplace for Bronco merchandise. There are many talented members here who could design and market items- and I’m sure many members who would gladly pay for such items. I would much rather support a G6 free market than the Bronconation marketplace.

 

[Used2jeep]

They probably worked out a nice little deal for funding from Ford marketing for at least a couple of years.

Something like free membership when you buy a Bronco? How could that happen?

 

[Used2jeep]

It would be nice if the G6 forum had an online marketplace for Bronco merchandise. There are many talented members here who could design and market items- and I’m sure many members who would gladly pay for such items. I would much rather support a G6 free market than the Bronconation marketplace.

Just wait until real machines get on the road. These graphics/badges/etc will almost surely come to market. If there is no "marketplace" on B6G then there will no doubt be links to member wares. Maybe a "preferred" or "accepted" vendor section (IIRC there was one of those on the Concours Owners Group forum).

 

[NH-Bronco]

I specifically do not join "For Profit" organizations. Weather it's in my car, shooting or four wheeling hobbies. There focus is on "Profit" not necessarily the hobby. Very Glad to be here on Bronco6g.

 

[BroncOBX]

B6G has a drone squadron. Flight lead has callsign "Pineapple 01".

BN has drone envy.

 

[j_marinelli]

All you have to do is look at member count to really see the difference between a Forum driven by enthusiast vs. one that through a marketing firm. I do have an account (free) with them and would never go on to bash them but after hearing this story, this gets the good ol

But hey if our numbers continue to grow maybe we all can pitch in $10 and build the bronco nation site ?

 

[Tarjea]

After discussing with Doug, I've decided to share what I experienced and observed at the Bronco Super Celebration - West Event.

The goal here is to bring awareness to some friction in case any of you choose to attend public events relating to the new Bronco and are looking to share new information that you gather with the Bronco6G community.

Bronco Nation is a for-profit "independent" marketing firm that utilizes an image of being a group of enthusiasts to try and grow their business. You can check out their site for more information. I'm not commenting on whether or not aspects of what they are offering are beneficial. You can decide that for yourself.

They depend on being the first to release information and exclusive content in order to draw in more paid memberships. When other sites such as Bronco6G "leak" information, it impacts them.

On the first day of the public event, as many of you know, I captured a lot of pictures and asked some detailed questions. Doug and I uploaded this new information in near real time to the forum, for all of you to get new looks at the Bronco.

On the 2nd day, I made an effort to visit the Bronco Nation team to learn more about them (I had not researched them much before this). They already knew who I was and provided very cryptic answers to my genuine interest. It was a pretty awkward exchange... I got weird looks from many of them throughout the rest of the event as I continued to ask the Ford team more questions and take more photos.

On the final day, for the scheduled Q&A, I set up to record the session for accuracy. It turned out no new information was provided, but regardless, Bronco Nation sent an employee to stand directly in front of me. I know this, because as I adjusted and moved, the employee took note and continued trying to obscure my camera... I found this to be very petty and unprofessional.

My takeaway for all of you: If you are attending any events in the future, just be aware that Bronco Nation clearly sees Bronco6G as a threat to their business model and they don't necessarily act professionally or respectfully towards you, if they know you are posting unique content to Bronco6G.

Again, I'm not commenting on the service they provide to their members, just bringing to light my experience with them at this particular event, so that you can take necessary precautions to ensure you don't have a similar one.

Honestly, BN has almost no good information and half the conversation on the forum happened here before or close after the reveal. Most people are entirely new to the Bronco community and/or off roading there. For people with experience and long time members of the community there is very little use for bronco Nation. They offer nothing more to us than the off roadeo, member map, anx and maybe exclusive content. The whole experience seems stale and Rigid.

 

[Tarjea]

BN has until next summer to gain traction. Once the vehicle is out, the exclusives end. After that, the real action is the average person doing anything and everything to their Broncos. Maybe that stress is getting to them?

They do have the off roadeo stuff and the member map for clubs. Not exactly staying power?.

 

[B. Ron CO]

i get this when I use WiFi, but not using cell service. I am in Japan though so that may make a difference

Heh, tried on cell after reading your comment but still blocked here.

 

[Used2jeep]

 

[DrewBronc21]

I browse their site as well. Not a member for $69 a year. This forum has a much better layout with power train, Tech, Misc subforums. Much more info here.

 

[Used2jeep]

This place should be pretty slick once the machines get on the road and folks start monkeying with internals and hard parts. Shake this beast down, figure out the fixes to common issues (hopefully inexpensive and lasting).

 

[irv0735]

I actually audibly laughed at the naiveté of this post.

Bronco Nation was spoken of at length at launch. It was on the Bronco homepage. It's owned and run by Ford. It gives them the opportunity to own and run the conversation of fans. It's intent is to dissolve other forums (like this one). They want to be the ones with the leaks. They want to monitor the content. Why wouldn't they? It's a not-very-guerilla form of guerilla marketing.

I dunno. Maybe because I've worked in advertising for so long, this is common sense to me. And I'm not trying to be insulting to anyone here. Just funny to me this comes as a surprise to literally anyone they'd wanna box us out.

For the record, I'm completely on this side of the fight.

I went into the week knowing nothing about Bronco Nation and simply as a member of the public attending the event. While I still did my best to ignore it and continue enjoying/sharing, I want other people who might not be aware of them either to recognize what might happen.

I am shocked and appalled a company would try to make money AND protect its methods for earning.
Sounds like OP should watch the movie Nightcrawler, then sell his sweet bronco vids and questionnaires to bronconation.

Again, this is just meant to let people know what they might experience at public events if it's known that they are posting on Bronco6G.

 

[lowmpg]

A lot of that seems emotional and interpretation. Just co-exist.

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