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See You Out Here
A trusted but tired American company reinventing for the road ahead
Brand Identity
Logo Refresh
In Store & Packaging
Campaigns
As North America’s largest travel center, Pilot fuels the transportation of America’s goods and services. Trusted by Pro 18-Wheelers who drive over 90% of the revenue, Pilot became just another diesel truck stop. To diversify their business model and fuel growth, Pilot needed to attract 4-wheel Road Trippers, a $500mil opportunity in Summer 2024 alone.
Reinvention was calling, Pilot had to signal a shift. Beyond a safe place to stop, clean restrooms and all the coffee and M&Ms you need, Pilot welcomes those who choose the road
Pro Truck Drivers and Road Trippers have different experiences but a shared passion. Whether it's a trucker delivering goods cross-country or a family hand-surfing and singing on a road trip, they drive to feel alive. The freedom, camaraderie, and joy of the highway is a calling.
See You Out Here
See You Out Here
It’s a Platform Idea and a call to the open road. To help Pilot stand tall and stand out without alienating their core Pros, we turned this shared ethos into a refreshed identity, a modern and welcoming visual and verbal expression for the brand.
Results
The identity became an invitation by leaning into the high of the highway
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Inspired by the elements found along a North American journey, odd roadside signs and shapes became frames that capture the candid, intimate moments created when people find themselves in wide-open vistas.
Pilot’s logo, an inconvenient reality given it’s ubiquity across 800+ locations, required a face lift subtle enough not to disrupt but substantial enough to become an iconic symbol of the road.
Photography highlights three perspectives: distant horizons that evoke freedom, near-arrival moments that build anticipation, and up-close shots that showcase human connection.
A bold yet approachable color palette of roadside reds, whites, and blacks is complemented by vibrant accent hues to stand out in the category.
A variable font captures the legibility of far signage with the warmth of rounded corners to convey safety and a welcoming vibe. Verbal design ensures Pilot speaks with a roadwise tone and an inviting wink of humor.
A system spreading joy to over 800 locations and 1.3 million customers a day
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The refresh of a brand trapped in time transformed Pilot into a timeless, optimistic lifestyle brand that you can belong to when on the road.
See the Pilot Travel Centers campaign work that brought the Platform Idea and new identity to market, turning a stop into a vibe.
“I chose Hyphenated to modernize our brand and rally our internal team with work that had big energy and high cultural resonance.”
- Adrienne Ingoldt, CMO
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