He Wanted a Ford. He Bought a Range Rover. What Happened?

Summary

Brain Driven Brands: Episode Summary Title: He Wanted a Ford. He Bought a Range Rover. What Happened? Host: Sarah Levinger Co-Host: Nate Blagos Release Date: April 10, 2025

In this engaging episode of Brain Driven Brands, host Sarah Levinger and co-host Nate Blagos delve into the intricate psychology behind consumer brand choices. Through Nate's personal experience of intending to purchase a Ford but ultimately opting for a Range Rover, the episode uncovers how deep-seated identities and emotional associations influence buying decisions. Below is a detailed summary capturing the key points, discussions, insights, and conclusions from the conversation.

---

1. Introduction to the Story

The episode kicks off with a casual conversation between Sarah and Nate, leading into Nate's intriguing story:

[02:22] Nate: "I showed up to this podcast recording with a T-shirt that says Ford."

This anecdote sets the stage for exploring the conflicting brand identities that Nate experiences.

2. Nate's Brand Identities

Sarah introduces the concept of identity in consumer behavior, emphasizing its profound impact on purchasing decisions.

[04:59] Sarah: "Identity is something that affects more sales in a business than basically anything else."

Nate elaborates on his dual identity with Ford and Range Rover:

[05:28] Nate: "Yeah. So we were like a Ford family growing up. We had an old Crown Vic and a couple others."

This familial association with Ford creates a nostalgic and accessible identity, contrasting with the aspirational image of Range Rover.

3. The Purchase Decision: Ford vs. Range Rover

Nate recounts his dilemma and eventual decision to purchase a Range Rover over a Ford Bronco:

[06:46] Nate: "I was gonna buy a Bronco... they were 80 grand. And I was like, am I really gonna spend 80 grand on a Ford?"

Sarah identifies the presence of multiple brand identities influencing the decision:

[07:08] Sarah: "So, like, whoa, dude. That's the interesting story of, like, it wasn't about the total amount of money. I basically paid that for the range."

Nate explains that his choice wasn't solely based on price but on the perceived value and status associated with Range Rover:

[09:32] Nate: "No, but like I could. So I do think it's like success and status and all that, but it's not so in your face like a Lambo to me is like, hey, fuck you, I'm rich. Range Rover to me is like I've worked hard. I like nice things. This is my nice."

4. Psychological Insights

Sarah delves deeper into the neurological underpinnings of brand identity:

[07:28] Sarah: "Your brain is very strange... it runs at about 11 million bits of information per second."

She explains how emotional intensity and long-term associations shape brand preferences:

[08:20] Sarah: "The brain will go through your entire life and record everything... So when two like brain cells come together and just connect, that typically only happens in high states of emotional intensity."

Nate touches upon the evolution of his brand identity over time:

[12:20] Nate: "Because I think I'm in a different headspace now than three years ago when I bought it."

5. Brand Strategy Takeaways

The conversation shifts to how brands can better understand and respond to consumer identities:

[14:53] Sarah: "Ford was always there... What did it mean at that particular point in time?"

Sarah suggests that brands should proactively engage with customers to understand their shifting identities and purchase intentions:

[18:10] Sarah: "Where are you going next? Are you off to just scroll social media or are you actually off to like study our competitors?"

Nate concurs, emphasizing the importance of continuous dialogue and adaptability in marketing strategies:

[15:42] Nate: "Personas bleed together... constantly testing new messaging and new angles and constantly talking to your customers is so important."

6. Conclusion

Sarah wraps up the episode by highlighting the balance between nostalgic and current identities in consumer behavior:

[16:09] Sarah: "Our current self, the view of who we have, of who we are today, is in the driver's seat a lot of the time. But it's basing those decisions on how we felt as a child and what we didn't."

Nate adds a humorous yet insightful note on identity activation:

[20:07] Nate: "If anyone has a hookup on Ford trucks, let me know. DM me or you can listen to the Tactical and Practical podcast."

Key Takeaways

• Identity Shapes Purchases: Deep-rooted identities and emotional connections to brands significantly influence consumer choices.

• Nostalgia vs. Aspirational Values: Consumers often balance nostalgic, accessible brands with aspirational ones that symbolize success and status.

• Brand Engagement is Crucial: Brands must actively engage with consumers to understand evolving identities and adapt their strategies accordingly.

• Emotional Intensity Matters: High emotional states during brand interactions can create lasting associations that drive future purchases.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Nate on Wearing a Ford T-shirt:

  [02:22] Nate: "I showed up to this podcast recording with a T-shirt that says Ford."

• Sarah on Identity's Impact:

  [04:59] Sarah: "Identity is something that affects more sales in a business than basically anything else."

• Nate on Brand Value:

  [09:32] Nate: "Range Rover to me is like I've worked hard. I like nice things. This is my nice."

• Sarah on Brain's Information Processing:

  [07:28] Sarah: "Your brain is very strange... it runs at about 11 million bits of information per second."

• Sarah on Consumer Decisions:

  [16:09] Sarah: "Our current self, the view of who we have, of who we are today, is in the driver's seat a lot of the time."

---

This episode provides valuable insights into how personal identities and emotional ties to brands can guide consumer behavior. By dissecting Nate's experience, Sarah and Nate illustrate the complexities behind seemingly straightforward purchase decisions, offering actionable strategies for brands to connect more deeply with their audiences.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome back to Brain Driven Brands. I'm Sarah Lovinger, your host of this really weird podcast that we have no idea what we do every time we get on here, but we talk a lot about psychology, behavior, science, applying the weird things that humans do to humans, that humans do to your brand. It's a Friday, guys. I'm sorry. Welcome, though, co host Nate Blagos. Welcome to the show.

[B]

Hey, good to be here.

[A]

How's it. How's your life? How's your brand? How's your biz?

[B]

Good. Life's good. Life's busy. Business is very good, despite the general sense of doom everyone's feeling. Yeah, you were buying watches.

[A]

People are buying real nice watches these days. Yes. I. I will say I almost had to mute the tariff keyword on Twitter this week because I was just like, it's hurting my brain, guys. Get off of Twitter. Like, that's my only advice, really, is for a minute, for one day, just get off of Twitter. Twitter.

[B]

One thing is true. This is not marketing advice. This is life advice.

[A]

Oh, good. I love that.

[B]

Life is so much better than the media and Twitter and Instagram make it seem.

[A]

I would agree with that.

[B]

Like, have you ever gone outside?

[A]

Have you ever gone outside? It's so nice in the outdoors, like, where the nature is.

[B]

Just go golf. Life's so much better if you just golf sometimes.

[A]

I can't tell you how much I agree with this sentiment 100%. If I could endorse any message, go outside.

[B]

Go outside. 20, 25.

[A]

Go outside. Even if it's snowing. Just put your coat on, go out there, man, walk around for a little bit, get some air. It's incredibly important for humans.

[B]

We were supposed to be outside. We have been outside for, like, however many thousands of years you think Earth has been around.

[A]

Yeah, we were not built for the indoors.

[B]

Yeah, indoors is new. We just invented that.

[A]

Like I said, indoors is new. It's a new. Yeah, for humans. This is not, like a normal, normal thing.

[B]

Get some. Some fresh air. Some fresh air. Sunlight grounding on the side.

[A]

Though I did hear that you have a topic for today that I'm kind of excited to hear what this is, because, again, we talk a lot about, like, random stuff and on this podcast, psychology based whatever, but we rarely talk about, like, things that Nate and I do as consumers ourselves. So let's hear it, man. What you got?

[B]

All right, so just so everyone knows, I'm not a. I'm not a dick.

[A]

I'm not an preface. Let me just preface this automatically. I don't know that I believe this.

[B]

I showed up to this podcast recording with a T shirt that says Ford.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And, Sarah, y. Thank you. Like it. Target. Easy.

[A]

Hey, Target.

[B]

Yeah, I'm not.

[A]

Which.

[B]

The fact that I buy T shirts at Target is gonna play into where we're going.

[A]

Oh, my God. Okay. All right. Target's important. Continue the story.

[B]

Sarah asked me if I drove a Ford, and we do technically still have a Ford Fiesta that I haven't driven in, like, three years.

[A]

Hey, those are legit. That's a legit car.

[B]

But our main car is a Range Rover.

[A]

Sorry, did you have a Range Rover?

[B]

Okay, it's technically a Range Rover Sport.

[A]

Oh, my God. How much money are you making? Is the question.

[B]

Barely enough to afford a Range Rover.

[A]

I was gonna say.

[B]

I mean, if you would ask my accountant that. Not enough to afford a Range Rover.

[A]

But your accountants, like, please stop. I drive a Tacoma, so I'm not gonna. I won't dig you for that.

[B]

But I did get to write it off, so there's some tax advantages. Wasn't that expensive, as.

[A]

You should write up as much as you can anyways. Why are you wearing a Ford shirt if you drive a Range.

[B]

Well, because it brought up the highlight how I would never wear Range Rover merch. Yeah, but Ford merch is cool. And I don't know why that is.

[A]

Okay. But it is that. Okay, this. All right, so we can talk way deep into this today. I talk about this a whole lot over on Twitter and just a few places here. I feel like I should talk about it more, though. Identity is something that affects more sales in a business than basically anything else. I would say identity, behavior. Those are the two things that I study the deepest. Shout out to tetherinsights IO want to go figure out the identities and the behavior of your customers? Go over there. We do research panels. But I digress. Your identity sits in two different places right now. Your identity to Ford is in one specific spot in your brain. When it comes to consumption, at least your identity with Range Rover is in a completely different spot. And both of those identities hold drastically different price points as to which items you're going to buy are wrapped around the brand. This goes a little bit into the tattoo test that we did a couple weeks ago. Like, that was last week sometime, where. Why is it that some brands have so much identity focused, like, grit to them that people will tattoo it on their body like Harley Davidson? You're probably not going to tattoo Ducati on your body. Although, I don't know. Do People.

[B]

Even though it's way more expensive. Like, people will pay more money for it. Way wouldn't put it on their bodies.

[A]

Yes. So this wraps down a little bit into the when that we talk about as well, because you might tattoo Harley Davidson on your body at 40, but you may not tattoo it on your body at 20 or vice versa. You might actually. You probably. It's probably more common to do it at 20 than not at 40. But why, like, why do these identities exist? So, okay, now I have all the questions. So first question. Have you ever owned a Ford?

[B]

Yeah. So we were like a Ford family growing up. We. We had an old Crown Vic and a couple others. The Crown Vic was sick.

[A]

Okay. Okay. So you have familial identity.

[B]

Yeah. And like, I do want to buy a Ford truck. Turns out Ford trucks are more expensive than my Range Rover, by the way.

[A]

Pricey these days. Yeah.

[B]

So, like, I like Ford. I'm a fan of Ford. I will get a nice new truck someday when I sell more watches. Okay. But I bought the range three and a half years ago at a time. It was a hundred percent like, an accomplishment. Buy like, like a fly. It was the first year I felt like I was making good money in hindsight. Like, seriously, I bought it too early. Like, I bought it.

[A]

Oh, no, I bought it.

[B]

But like, it was the first year soon after I got this job that I was like, oh, I'm rich.

[A]

Like, I made it.

[B]

Yeah, I'm killing it. I always want one. Like, they're one of my favorite cards growing up. And oh, my gosh, I forgot this, but this is actually the punchline to this whole thing. We went to the Ford dealership first, and I was gonna buy. I was gonna buy a Bronco.

[A]

I love Broncos.

[B]

And The Broncos were 80 grand. And I was like, am I really gonna spend 80 grand on a Ford?

[A]

Oh, so you had a pre existing anchor that you didn't know was in there.

[B]

And I literally said, I was like, I think I can go to the Range Rover dealership down the street and pay less than that. And I did.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

So, like, whoa, dude. That's the interesting story of, like, it wasn't about the total amount of money. I basically paid that for the range.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

But it was like, for some reason, that car is worth that to me, and that one's not.

[A]

You got some weird identities.

[B]

But I wear this T shirt and I never wear a Range Rover tire.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. You have some very interesting identity links inside your head. So for anybody who hasn't heard Sarah just like yammer on about like brains and things. Your brain is very strange. Okay. It is like a. Basically a three pound mass of water and fat that runs at about 11 million bits of information per second. On the subconscious side runs about 40 bits of information. On the conscious side. Yeah, the conscious, like I should think about this and do this logically. That one runs basically like dial up. Right. Compared to the other one is the screaming through all these things. Now the interesting part about this is I think you have two identities that are linked to very different things inside your head. So the brain will go through your entire life and basically just record everything. Anything you smell, anything you like, come in contact with, anything you hear, any people that you're involved in, blah, blah, blah.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So it'll record all subconscious will sit here and start to make links between things in a very interesting way when it makes a link to something. Right. So when two like, like brain cells come together and just like connect, that typically only happens in high states of emotional intensity. Now when I say hi, it doesn't have to be like, oh my God, I'm so upset. And that's why I love Ford. It can also just be like a heightened state of sensitivity. So for you, you had a heightened state of sensitivity towards Ford for a long period of time. It wasn't like intense as in just traumatic, but it was intense as in every time I come in contact with the Ford brand, I log it. And you came in contact with the Ford brand for your entire freaking childhood. So you have nostalgic identity attached to fort which identity do you have attached to Range Rover? And why do you wear T shirts for Ford but you own a Range Rover? So what is a Range Rover signify exactly why that one and not like a Lambo? Because they both kind of do the same thing.

[B]

And I couldn't afford the Lambo for sure.

[A]

Okay, price. Yeah, but like we're talking brand like.

[B]

No, but like I could. So I do think it's like success and status and all that, but it's not so in your face like a, like a Lambo to me is like, hey, fuck you, I'm rich. Arrange to me is like I've worked hard. I like nice things. This is my nice.

[A]

Okay, so you have a third identity that came into the room at just the right time. God, this is fascinating.

[B]

By the way, at the end of this episode is just a diagnosis.

[A]

It's just be like you're just messing up.

[B]

So multiple personality disorder.

[A]

You need to go see it yeah, okay, okay. But I. I love dissecting this stuff because for a brand, any E commerce, it doesn't matter what brand you're part of. B2B SaaS, everybody. Your customers have different identities that are getting activated at different times, depending on what they see. Right. Depending on what they come in contact with. In this critical period where there was two brands. Ford and friggin the Land Rover. Yeah, exactly. I almost said Lambo again, and my brain goes, nope, nope. So Ford and Land Rover, you were in one specific identity, like crisis, basically. For these two brands, a third identity walked into the room, which is the identity of. I do not align with bros. I am not like a very flashy in your face dropshipper. That's not who I am now. Not. No offense to anybody who has a Lampo. Like, whatever you want to do with that idea is fine.

[B]

But for offense to the drop shipper, offense to you guys.

[A]

His third identity that came into the room was an identity that said Lambo equals icky. I don't want to be icky. So now I've got two identities. One that drives a hell of a nostalgic thread which goes deep and has childhood references and all kinds of crazy stuff, but I can't afford it. My current identity can't really align with that yet. So I'm going to keep that as like, maybe someday I can afford a Ford and that will be a part of my ecosystem. So you're still building that association. Yeah, eventually. Someday you'll probably own a Ford just because you want it. Your brain is still like, we need it. That's the pinnacle, that's the peak.

[B]

If I can afford, it's my next car purchase for sure is a nice truck. Yeah.

[A]

Shocker. So again, price became the actual definitive, logical. What's the word? It became kind of a logical checks and balances system. So you had all these associations in here, but because your logical system was online, because you were probably checking price and sizes and capacity loads and like all these other things. Yeah, your logic. Oh, interesting. You had three different identities online and the logical system basically won out for your Range Rover.

[B]

Can I. Can I introduce a fourth identity to the conversation?

[A]

Yes, please.

[B]

Because I think I'm in a different headspace now than three years ago when I bought it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think now what I like most about driving that car is seeing people's reaction when it's me that gets out of it.

[A]

Oh, reinforcement in, like dusty boots and.

[B]

Jeans and a cowboy hat with a mullet.

[A]

I think I could see you loving.

[B]

This to see people at the grocery store.

[A]

Big, what is that guy?

[B]

Feel that. Your boss's car.

[A]

Oh, my God. It's hilarious. I love that this does it for you. You're just like, I want people to find me, like, a little bit polarizing and surprising.

[B]

I do bits alone all the time. Just for me. I think they're fun.

[A]

Okay. Okay. So to wrap this back up, though, this type of identity crisis happens a lot for customers. So. And this is where I think Ford could have done a lot better with you. They had a specific price, which I'm sure they came back and forth with you of like, well, we can drop it to this. We can drop it to this. They went as low as they possibly could. The last thing that they should have freaking done, which they didn't do well, which every E Commerce brand, whoever's selling anything should freaking do, is. Is if you leave the floor today. Where are you going next? Where are you going next? If you say Range Rover, somebody in a back room get on a computer and check to see how cheap that Range Rover is, because this guy or that we need to hit immediately.

[B]

Tell me how expensive the tires and oil changes are going to be. Ten years. All right.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And, like, that's what's so interesting is, like, I paid basically the. The same for the range that I would have paid for the Bronco, but I could justify it for the. For the range. I couldn't justify it for the Bronco. It wasn't a price thing. It was a value thing.

[A]

It was a value. Yeah.

[B]

It's like, if I'm gonna spend 70, 80k on a car, it's gonna be an impressive one. And the Bronco was cool, but to me, not impressive.

[A]

It was not impressive. Which is funny, because Broncos now are, like, kind of a big deal. Like, they sing.

[B]

I still count on one.

[A]

Okay, last question on here, then. Why was the value different? Why wasn't Bronco like, a big deal to you, but the Range Rover was?

[B]

Because Range Rover has always been out of reach. Ford was always accessible.

[A]

Ford is accessible because your family had it all the time. Yeah, a lot of people.

[B]

My family, who was not rich at all. And our Fords were beaters that we drove into the ground.

[A]

But Ford was always there, so. Interesting. Yeah, Ford was always there. So now my next question is, Ford needs to go run a survey immediately to see how many people in your family owned a Ford when you were younger, and what does it. What did it mean at that particular point in time? Because, again, you're still probably going to own a Ford at some point. You're going to purchase at some point. But the problem is when all comes back well.

[B]

And I, like, I think you just had a great appearance on. On the operators podcast shout out to you. By the way, you did briefly shout out this podc. Mention me by first name next time. Throw my Twitter handle out there too, obviously. But I figured you're like, yeah, I host a podcast with Nate. Nate who? Kelly. I'm trying to get my views.

[A]

Up next. Sorry, guys. Nate Legos. Correct.

[B]

You guys talked about how, like, Personas bleed together and, like, you have a definition of who your ideal customer is, but one person is not that one person and only that person all the time.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think this is where, like, constantly testing new messaging and new angles and constantly talking to your customers, like, is so important because it changes all the time depending on people's mood, time of year, time in their life.

[A]

Like, yes.

[B]

Yeah, stuff is constantly changing.

[A]

Well, and to caveat that it's changing because it's switching on and off. It's not that those identities don't exist anymore. Right.

[B]

Like, you know, you're right. It's just not static.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. They're just not activated at that particular point in time. And go listen to our episode on when we need to do another when episode. Because, like, I feel like we could just dissect this to death. But in general, in this particular case, this is one consumer that we studied where different identities were in the room at the time. He was activating all kinds of different things, but the one that won out the most was the current one, not the nostalgic one. Even though our childhood experiences really do take a heavy toll on our current consumption practices, a lot of the time, our current self, the view of who we have, of who we are today, is in the driver's seat a lot of the time. But it's basing those decisions on how we felt as a child and what we didn't, like, receive at that particular time period. So you talked about the fact that your family didn't have a lot of money. Like, it was not like, a big piece of your experience as a kid. So the unobtainable became something to value, something that should be more valuable than a nostalgic piece that was in your family that was attainable. And that's just basic humanity. We always want stuff we can't have.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But in general, the current view of Nate won out in that particular situation. Ford did a poor job. They. They should have double checked to see what anchors were in there.

[B]

Yeah. So Alex Ford dealership on Lawrence Road in Greenville, South Carolina. If you're you're listening to this better.

[A]

You should have done better. So in general, more brands need to be asking their customers, especially on the exit, Right? So we have these pop ups that are like, wait, do you want a discount? No, they don't. They're leaving for a reason. They don't. They're not leaving because they wanted a discount.

[B]

Well, maybe 10% are because of price, you know, but like, it's not everyone.

[A]

I would rather start the conversation of like, where are you going? You didn't see what you wanted to see. We get that where are you going.

[B]

Is such a good exit. Exactly.

[A]

Where are you going next? Are you off to just scroll social media or are you actually off to like study our competitors? Because if you are, I need to know which identity didn't like this.

[B]

If they had asked me, I would have told them. I literally went right down the street and bought a car.

[A]

Crazy. Like, a lot of consumers do this.

[B]

And if they had asked me and I told them and they hit me with facts about maintenance costs and reliability, you might have second guess specialties and services. I would have been like, wait, wait, a new set of tires? It's two grand.

[A]

Okay, don't like that TLDR for this entire episode. Go right now, change your exit intent, pop up so that it says, where are you going? And then ask them a specific set of questions. If they select one, that's like, I'm gonna go see what else is out there. Ask them the question of what is it that you didn't see? And. And can we help you make a good decision on this? Because our competitors are abcd. You don't want that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, where they could have got me. They could have got you. You could have been a forwarder for life. Okay. We need to do another episode on the reason why you bought a shirt, though, because that was the opening.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. This is what started this. I showed up.

[A]

We didn't go into the actual shirt process, but we don't have time for that in episode.

[B]

Okay, can I tell you the reason quick?

[A]

Okay. Yeah.

[B]

Original grand has a collaboration coming out with Ford.

[A]

Okay. All right. Jesus.

[B]

And I saw it and I was like, all right, let's scoop that identity.

[A]

Got Identity activation. Okay. Where can people find you? They want to follow your.

[B]

Your forward journey at Nate Legos on Twitter. If anyone has a hookup on Ford trucks, let me know. DM me or you can listen to the Tactical and practical podcast. Some people are saying it's the hottest marketing podcast today.

[A]

I mean, some people are, but the most are saying that this one's the best. So anyways, if you want, you want to.

[B]

They're trying to be nice. I talk to all, to all of them and they're like, well, we're just trying to make Sarah feel good. No, I know, it's.

[A]

Please make me feel good. I have hurt feelings all the time. Sarah's an empath. I just, I get my feeling regarded. Okay, follow me at Sarah Levinger anywhere you consume content these days and go check out tetherinsights.IO we are actually doing these kind of studies. The same one that we just did with Nate. Sarah runs market research studies for e commerce brands, B2B brands, SaaS brands, all kinds of brands. But in general, this is the kind of stuff that I want to find out. What happened in their childhood? Why aren't they purchasing from us? What do we need to actually say to make sure that he buys a Ford and not a Ranger?

[B]

Brain Driven Brands is part of the Learn and Laugh series on the Quickfire.

[A]

Podcast network and is presented by Tether Insights. For more information, go to Tether Insights IO.