Cars have become indispensable elements of our lives. They influence the places we go, the activities we do and the types of experiences we have available to us.

This is most obvious in the more mundane aspects of our lives, from going to the grocery store to after school pick ups and everywhere in between. But beyond a means of transport for these everyday activities, people also use their cars as vehicles for adventuring.

WanderWheels started when we began to wonder how we could encourage customers to use their cars to embark on more of these exciting adventures. Our goal was to create a platform that would enable customers to get more out of their vehicles while also facilitating increased interaction between Ford and its ownership community.

We knew that Ford customers were already engaging in these activities and wanted to explore additional opportunities to add value during those experiences. We started to learn more about the types of adventures customers were going on, the tools they were using and the quality of the experiences they were having.

Eventually, we identified three compelling areas of opportunity to enhance the adventuring experience for customers. These included:

• Inspiration: Helping customers discover new areas to explore and activities to do 

• Planning: Figuring out how to coordinate your adventures once you have a place in mind 

• Community: Connecting with a community of like-minded adventurers to share experiences, recommendations and tips 

We built an adventure discovery platform and Instagram community that helped Ford customers adventure with confidence. The team initially narrowed the focus of the platform exclusively on adventures in Texas so we could quickly get something in production and test with customers at a smaller scale.

We used Instagram as a home for our WanderWheels community because it was a low-effort way to quickly allow WanderWheels 'members' to connect, discover hidden gems and share adventuring tips together. The app allowed customers to browse our adventure catalog, choose from hundreds of activities and book unique experiences with the click of a button.

Some features I contributed to were:

• Adventure catalog: Discover outdoor destinations and experiences tailored to user preferences

• POI (Points of Interest) pages: Destination relevant content and bookable experiences 

• Itinerary Builder: Input your starting point, preferences, and desired duration to receive personalized itineraries

• Gear Rental: An online channel for users to gent adventure relevant gear 

• Digital Texas State Park Checklist: A virtual checklist of all the State Parks you can visit in Texas. Over 1,000 downloads in a 2 month period. 

Today, WanderWheels continues to play a role in Ford's customer engagement efforts. The Instagram community has over 75K followers and is managed by Ford social media teams.