US manufacturer and online retailer of aftermarket truck parts RealTruck teamed up with a trio of NFL super stars to honour the player’s veteran hometown heroes by surprising them with a dream truck.
Part of a market initiative called ‘The Trucket List’, RealTruck teamed up with agency Tombras for a three-episode giveaway series with each video seeing an NFL player surprise a chosen hometown veteran hero with the gift of their dream truck.
Created to leverage and honour of Veterans Day, RealTruck teamed up with NFL athlete ambassadors Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs), George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers) and Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys) to gift deserving veterans and first responders the truck of their dreams.
Kelce, Kittle and Prescott – who are not just endorsers, but RealTruck investors and members of the company’s strategic advisory team) – worked personally with the brand to identify unsung heroes in the players’ respective home communities and then helped RealTruck create one-of-a-kind trucks specifically for each veteran.
The campaign’s goal is to inspire viewers by ‘showcasing what’s possible when you transform your truck to pursue a bucket list experience’.
The campaign runs across RealTruck, Kelce, Kittle and Prescott’s social channels in addition to YouTube, plus an influencer strand (which includes sports journalist Ian Rapoport, racing driver Trevor Bayne and fantasy football expert Joseph Robert), as well as added paid and organic social rolling out from Veterans Day from 11 November.
The campaign kicked off with a campaign trailer and then the first spot in the series dropped on 17 November with subsequent videos rolling out each week on thetrucketlist.com.
The spot saw NFL tight end Travis Kelce surprise firefighter Craig Cummings – who spends his free time mentoring at-risk youth in Kansas City – with ‘the ultimate tailgating truck’. Fellow tight end George Kittel presented his vet hero with a perfectly accessorised fishing truck, while mental health advocate and Cowboys quaterback Dak Prescott surprise army vet Derrick Ross with a customised adventure truck.
The three-part series was directed by Michael Zimbalist (who himself has written, produced and directed four ESPN ‘30 for 30’ documentaries).
“In partnership with our athlete investors, we’re amping up brand storytelling to inspire more people to reach for their dreams and check off their bucket list,” said RealTruck Chief Growth Officer Tony Ambroza. “The episodic video content shines a light on three extraordinary unsung heroes and shows how customized trucks can be life-changing. Our goal is to celebrate people who give much to their communities and ignite a world of possibilities for truck owners everywhere,”
Comment
An innovative initiative from a company which doesn’t just pay athletes to front their marketing campaigns, but genuinely has an advisory team that includes elite professional athletes who are also truck enthusiasts and stakeholders in the company. This group of sports investor/endorsers provide insights on how to position RealTruck’s products to enthusiast consumers and expand the reach of the brand further into mainstream sports and lifestyle markets.
This first instalment of ‘The Trucket List’ is an extension of the ‘In The Real’ campaign launched by RealTruck and Tombras earlier in 2022 and is part of a joint brand/agency strategy to transform RealTruck from an e-commerce company to a lifestyle brand for truck and off-road enthusiasts.
“They say content is king to build a brand, and more over for a lifestyle brand,” added Tombras president Dooley Tombras. “That is why we chose to produce quality, long form content with an award-winning producer instead of traditional ads. This furthers our work to engage truck enthusiasts across the country and prove to consumers we are more than just an eCommerce site.”
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