Western Star Trucks decided to put the power in the hands of fans by inviting them to build Western Star's next show truck to be featured at the Mid America Trucking Show (MATS), the trucking industry's largest trade show. With this campaign, we had the opportunity to approach this with a integrated content marketing eye and subsequently launched the "Design Our Star" campaign, which leveraged digital, social, video, experiential, PR and traditional marketing.
Primary objectives included:
- Educate users on the custom features and quality components available on Western Star Trucks
- Socially engage users to maximize brand exposure (SEO optimization and external social buzz)
- Collect email information to increase existing database and keep fans coming back to vote with each round
- Create an experience that properly reflected the brand across digital properties/channels and experiential platforms.
Timing
The campaign was introduced at the 2013 MATS where fans could start casting their votes and signing up in person. From there, over the course of the next year, users were invited to periodically vote on custom elements of the truck, including wheels, paint scheme, interior, engine, etc. Along the way, users were given updates on the progress of the build via social media and direct email. This all led up to the reveal of the completed truck which happened exactly one year later at the 2014 MATS.
Finish
The campaign was so well received that the finished truck was not only a key truck at MATS 2014 Western Star booth, but the truck also went on to be presented to the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and is pulling intto various trucker events throughout the year.
I was responsible for the creative concept, strategy direction and execution (up to the point of leaving the position for a new opportunity).
Western Star Trucks manufactures a range of Class 8 commercial vehicles for both highway and off-road use and is part of the Daimler Trucks North America family.
Digital & Design Components:
- Microsite w/Social Integration & Data Collection
- Photography
- Video
Supporting Marketing Communication:
- Tradeshow Marketing (experiential & printed collateral)
- Social Media Content Marketing (organic & paid)
- Social Media Influencer Networking
- PR
- Direct Email
Digital | Microsite + Social Integrations | www.designourstar.com
SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT | YOUTUBE VIDEOS
8 Videos uploaded to announce and guide each round of voting. This was advantageous as the it allowed Western Star to showcase certain building components, while also giving the brand more of a voice and personality when walking through each stage. Additionally, from a content marketing side, it strategically was advantageous as allowed for embedding into DesignOurStar.com, direct emails and SEO optimization.
Trade Show 2013 Launch
PR COVERAGE OF LAUNCH
SOCIAL MEDIA | CONTENT MARKETING - Organic Post Sampling
Social media posts created awareness for the project and introduced new rounds and closing rounds for voting. Social media posts also assisted with teasing the building of the truck as votes were casted and finalized. This gave Western Star the opportunity to showcase the custom building process of their trucks.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING | PAID ADS
SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ #DESIGNOURSTAR
The social share plugins utilized a pre-populated feature to ensure fans could simply and accurately share their particpation in the voting.
SOCIAL INFLUENCER NETWORKING | ORGANIC
As part the Daimler Trucks North America family, Western Star Trucks is a brother brand to Mercedes-Benz. Because of this, we took advantage of networking with the car enthusiasts to cross promote this campaign with the fans of Mercedes-Benz.
TRADE SHOW REVEAL | 2014
After many rounds of voting, the campaign became even more experiential with the reveal of the actual truck at MATS 2014 that social media fans helped to build.
SOCIAL MEDIA | CONTENT MARKETING
Social media was leveraged in real time to reveal the truck to those who were not at the show. It crossed the brand's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels.
PR / MEDIA COVERAGE EARNED
