Travel center network Pilot, embarking on what it calls “a major brand evolution,” has launched a new ad campaign, “See You Out Here.” The campaign embodies the company’s purpose to “show people they matter at every turn” it said, by forging a deeper emotional connection between Pilot and drivers.
This campaign is the first to showcase Pilot’s refreshed brand identity, which includes a new, modern logo, a more vibrant color palette and a “relatable, witty” brand voice.
Building on this more than 65-year legacy, the company’s first chief marketing officer, Adrienne Ingoldt, is leading the effort to make Pilot an “iconic brand and the travel center of choice for all who love the open road.”
“It’s the people and the moments along the way that make being on the road so much more than just traveling from point A to B,” Ingoldt said. “We’ve found that people who choose to drive—wherever their journey takes them—have a shared desire to embrace all the possibilities along the way. Pilot is out here to fuel them up, fill them up and lift them up.”
To develop this campaign, Pilot spoke to all types of drivers to better understand the community it serves. These conversations revealed an essential truth: out on the road, like in life, it’s about the journey and what you make of it, not just the destination. Drivers of all kinds answer the call of the road because it puts them in the driver’s seat of life, where they feel alive and free, the company said.
The new campaign includes broadcast television in five key U.S. markets, nationwide billboards, social media, radio ads and other media.
The core of the campaign is a 30-second television commercial that turns up the volume on the road trip anthem, Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway,” and features everyday people, all kinds of drivers moving to the rhythm of the road. The ad is currently airing on major networks and streaming on connected TV platforms. The new brand elements and motto of “See You Out Here” will continue across the company’s owned channels and in key moments throughout the year.
“Everyone who’s ever hand-surfed out the window or belted out an epic car power ballad knows the middle of nowhere can be the greatest somewhere,” said Ingoldt. “Our brand is how we show up for drivers—whether it’s in the middle of a rigorous multi-day haul or an epic road trip, we get them and have just what they need to keep that upbeat feeling rolling. See you out here!”
- Pilot Co. is No. 15 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Pilot Travel Centers LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway. It has approximately 900 locations in 44 states and six Canadian provinces, serving an average of 1.2 million customers per day. In addition to travel center services, Pilot and its partners offer trucking fleets a variety of solutions for fuel, credit, factoring, maintenance and rewards. The company operates the third largest fuel tanker fleet in North America and supplies approximately 12 billion gallons of fuel per year. Pilot is a major provider of biodiesel and renewable fuels and is developing an EV charging network and low-carbon fueling alternatives.
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