Life Is a highway

A 65-year-old company and North America’s largest travel center, Pilot Travel Centers is trusted by Professional Truck Drivers but overlooked by auto drivers who find truck stops undifferentiated, not for them, and even “scary." Recognizing a $500m opportunity to grow with Road Trippers in the Summer of 2024, Pilot launched its first-ever brand initiative to boost awareness and consideration with auto drivers.

Pro Truck Drivers and Road Trippers have different experiences but a shared passion. It’s the journey, not the destination. The uncharted vistas, unexpected stops, moments holding the door for and smiling at others, passing on hard-earned road advice to fellow travellers, and pulling the ol’ iconic trucker horn.

The high of the highway is created by the people who answer the call to the open road.

This insight shaped the creative, shifting Pilot from the functional pizza and gas to an emotional shared space.

See You Out Here

It’s a Platform Idea and a call to the road, inviting all drivers to embrace the adventure and shared humanity of the great in-between. Because out here, you disconnect from everything to reconnect with everyone. Out here, you’ll meet some strange people, but none of them strangers. And out here, we’re all different but the same.

We introduced Pilot to the 75% of Americans planning road trips in Summer 2024 with a feel-good summer road trip anthem set to sing-out-loud “Life is a Highway.” The anthem united travel ball families, rodeo queens, dancing grandmas, truck drivers and even a llama sharing the vibes. 

For National Truck Driver Appreciation in Fall, we tipped our hats to Pros with a sincere “Here’s to You.” While everyone else focused on how Pros fuel the economy, we’d celebrate them for who they are.

And for the holidays, Pilot celebrated those who make the long trek home by adding sweetness to their journey. 

Pilot’s “See You Out Here” is a celebration of the moments in the great in-between, forcing a reconsideration of what a truck stop truly is.