20,000 Jeep owners in the Middle East are part of unofficial Jeep clubs. Many of them love to post content on social, making for a very active Jeep online community.

We harnessed the voices of these passionate individuals. We gathered thousands of their UGC videos and pics and distilled it into a film tribute which we posted across all our social channels, tagging them as creators.

The film drove people to our Jeep online community to reinforce our campaign mantra that Jeep isn’t just made by a company. It’s made by its community. Their social profiles became our greatest advertisement.

The Middle Eastern automotive landscape is unique.

1. It’s very competitive. Less strict import restrictions have resulted in a wider range of car brands available than anywhere else, including many Jeep knock-offs. Bigger disposable incomes and cheaper fuel amplify consumer demand.

2. The Jeep community in the GCC is the most active in the world, for several reasons.

They have a bigger disposable income and, therefore, have more means to invest in an expensive hobby like cars. In addition, people in most parts of the Middle East spend a lot of time indoors due to the hot climate. Urban entertainment, like malls and indoor theme parks, is a massive pastime. Adventurers, like the ones in the Jeep community, yearn to spend time outdoors. Up to 85% of adventurers in major Middle Eastern cities are expatriate Asians, Arabs and Westerners who are far away from family and friends. So, they seek out every opportunity to spend time with like-minded individuals. As a result, they form very close bonds with the Jeep community, but also with their cars. Hence, the Middle East Jeep community is far more emotionally invested in our brand and their vehicles.

For decades Jeep’s positioning has been “There’s Only One.” It is the original SUV that helped people to go anywhere and do anything. However, Jeep is no longer the only capable SUV on the market. More and more carmakers in the region are designing vehicles which physically resemble Jeeps, communicating functional Jeep capability and reliability. We needed to remind people with an adventurous mindset that Jeep is the one brand that truly delivers on their desire for freedom.

Other brands can copy our designs. But the one thing that differentiates Jeep, our greatest asset, is our powerful community – a network of passionate enthusiasts. They are a vibrant and welcoming group – a place for owners to connect with like-minded, free-spirited people where they can make lifelong friends.

It was time for Jeep to reinforce its bond with existing and prospective consumers to maintain our brand positioning.

People value individuality and pride themselves in owning their unique identity. 10% of Jeep owners in the GCC are categorized as ‘doers.’ They LOVE their Jeeps. They participate in organized group trips to the great outdoors. But more interestingly, they spend a lot of time and money on customizing their Jeeps. Their Jeeps give them the freedom to express their personalities, creativity and passion. Most Jeepers even give their vehicles a nickname.

Jeep has 20,000 passionate community members in the Middle East who upload content every time they take their cars on an adventure. This deep connection with their cars and the Jeep brand is something no other brand can copy. So we harnessed the passion of these individuals, and replaced all the cars in our commercial with the personalized vehicles of the Jeep community to remind the world There’s Only One 4x4 quite like ours.

We collected thousands of UGC pics and videos uploaded to social by Jeepers across the Middle East. We contacted them to get usage rights and the original material. We also invited all Jeep clubs in the Middle East and their members to join our co-creation project. We conducted hours of interviews with Jeep owners, which shaped our script. We paired the VO with the most compelling UGC to create a film that honored the life that every Jeeper breathes into their Jeep. The narrator proudly admits that while we as Jeep build the machines, they only come to life in the hands of our community.

The film was posted on our social channels and we tagged every contributor as a creator, reinforcing our campaign message to our audience that we don’t make Jeep. They do.

- Defying advertising conventions, we didn’t show shiny, new cars. We only showed used Jeeps covered in dirt and scratches.

- Used cars sold new cars: Wrangler/Gladiator sales increased over 59%, claiming back market share against our biggest competitor. Our campaign generated sales 6.9% higher than the industry standard.

- Over 12 million views of our main film across all platforms

- Over 17,000 website visits

- 8x greater engagement with Jeepers’ content compared to Jeep content.

- Reach greater than our competitors combined

- 23% growth in Jeep club membership numbers

- 25% increase in the number of Jeep community outings

- A 15% increase in the number of women participating in community events and a 10% increase in whole-family participation

- 17% increase in customizations of new cars sold

- Our campaign was picked up by major industry blogs and magazines across the world