LAND ROVER OWNERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES

Within the Land Rover family, we have a very special group of customers. We like to call them our ‘superloyalists’, writes Kim McCullough, Brand Vice President, Land Rover North America.

These are people who, over the years, have owned at least five Land Rover vehicles and tend to be very successful entrepreneurs. They have the desire and ability to truly curate their lives – their home, their watch, their vacation and in terms of an SUV, it’s a Range Rover. We count roughly 5,000 individuals in this elite group.

Naturally, superloyalists are hugely important to us. Not only for their business, but also for how they represent our brand and the considerable influence they have on other buyers.

To show our gratitude, we have been providing them with unique access to some of our latest models over the past year, often before they are revealed to the general public.

This was recently the case with the debut of our new Range Rover Long‑Wheelbase Autobiography Black edition, just before the Los Angeles Auto Show. Prior to the Show press day, we introduced the limited edition Range Rover to 75 ‘superloyalists’ at the Beverly Hills estate of an equally enthusiastic Range Rover owner.

It was a truly wonderful and luxurious evening. We had renowned L.A. chef Josef Centeno of Bäco Mercat create a mix of his signature dishes and special "black" themed dishes throughout the night. Most important, our guests got to experience the new flagship Range Rover Long‑Wheelbase Autobiography Black edition before anyone else. It was, in fact, the vehicle’s world debut. We plan on hosting similar events in other key markets before the vehicle arrives in spring, 2014.

During 2014, we plan to further build the unique relationship we have with our most loyal customers by offering, at a cost, more opportunities to join us on special events.

One way is with our Land Rover Adventure off‑roading programs to Moab and Telluride. We re‑introduced the programs last year and they proved a tremendous success, with each event sold‑out. For 2014, we’ll repeat the programs, with a five‑day Telluride event in August, as well as four‑ and five‑day Moab programs in October. For these guests, these trips represent once in a lifetime adventure getaways, as well as opportunity to learn about the true breadth of capability of Land Rover vehicles.

With 2014 marking the 25th anniversary of Land Rover’s remarkable Great Divide Expedition, we’re also planning to celebrate the occasion next year with a very special Adventure program for a select group of our customers. More details to come on this exciting program, which has its roots in the 1989 trek across the length of the Continental Divide, from Montana to New Mexico. And there are more Adventures in the works.

We truly love that Land Rover owners see our brand as something special and make us part of their very well curated lives.