Branding lessons from the relaunch of the Ford Bronco

Twenty-five years after it was discontinued, the Ford Bronco officially came out of retirement in a big primetime reveal this past July. While the announcement of the new Ford Bronco family of vehicles was not free of controversy or mixed reactions, Ford’s marketing has nevertheless been a master class in how to rebrand a company.

The three media outlets that Ford used to unveil its new line of Broncos—ABC, ESPN and National Geographic—are all owned by Disney. It’s interesting that Ford partnered with Disney for the unveiling because Disney’s own bit of self-rebranding in recent years is quite emblematic of what Ford has done. Disney’s recent modus operandi has been to take their own animated classics, like Beauty and the Beast and Mulan, and remake them into live action films that cater to more modern tastes and sensibilities. Since the original Disney classics were already re-imaginings of traditional folk and fairy tales, you could say that they’ve been remaking their remakes.

A powerful force that works in Disney’s favor with these live action remakes is nostalgia.