The benefits of safety and stability for the families purchasing the vehicle are well defined, as are the ruggedized frame for the off-road enthusiasts. The brands' management in Ford however is starting to embrace a more upscale image through movie placement (Ford Press Release 2002) in the move "Die Another Day" in addition to the use of event-based marketing to increase the appeal among higher-end SUV and luxury car owners (Land Rover. 2002).
The brand stays relevant
The brand overall has successfully stayed relevant through the iterations of being first an agricultural vehicle with its origins in the UK, to the short ownership of the brand by BMW from 1994 to 2000 and finally to the brand equity and management strategies by Ford from 2000 to present day shows a continual striving for relevancy. The basic design of the Range Rover is utilitarian in its use in rural communities, yet needed a fine-tuning of features to accentuate its family appeal as a workhorse SUV in addition to aspiring for the upscale market (Solman 2005). The bottom line is that while the brand straddles a dual positioning strategy...
As a result of those branding and marketing strategies, the pricing was relatively low for the upscale market. With the inclusion of more features and a gem-like grill and interior features (Solman 2005) the brand and the image of the SUVs are becoming increasingly seen as comparable in value to the higher-end SUVs on the market, in their competitive arena.
The brand is properly positioned
According to this attribute from the scorecard developed by Keller (2000), there is a single, strong message of the brand communicated. On this point, Range Rover struggles as it has a dual message of both being off-road, suburban and also upscale. The dominant two messages of off-road and upscale often lead to the suburban message being lost however. On this attribute, Range Rover is not performing
