The campaign was developed by independent creative agency Akkomplice that has previously worked with Freightliner.

The 30-second TV commercial, showing the truck being tested in the Australian outback, is aimed at truck owners and drivers.

Freightliner marketing manager William Keaney, said the ad is Freightliner’s take on an impactful truck ad that aims to differentiate the brand from big truck players.

“We’re up against some big players in the industry, who have a loyal base of rusted-on customers, so we knew we had to make an impact, not just make some ads,” he told Mumbrella.

Akkomplice founder Kenny Hill said: “There’s a long list of rational reasons to buy a Cascadia but to win minds, we first must win hearts – so with this campaign we doubled-down on the compelling emotional takeout of confidence that customers get from Freightliner.”

Akkomplice chief creative officer Glenn Dalton said: “One of the best pieces of creative advice I ever received was to start with the poster. If it works on a billboard, it will work anywhere. We assembled a great crew to pull this off and are thrilled with the result.”

The campaign is live across large format OOH, social and digital channels, print, TV and integrated dealer collateral.

A suite of customer testimonial content, also produced by Akkomplice, retargets viewers of the new campaign in print, video and social.

Akkomplice last year ran a campaign for Freightliner, aiming it directly at truck owners.

The agency created a Top Gear-style series, fronted by radio host and stand-up comedian Nick Cody and ex-Olympic Hockeyroo, Collingwood player and Channel 7 presenter, Georgie Parker.

Alongside a truck expert, the campaign showed the team putting the Cascadia through its paces. 

The campaign also featured on-road antics such as a tyre-change challenge and a drag race featuring a lycra-clad Cody. It also included the task of making a cup of tea by reversing a tea bag into a cup from the back of a freight truck and trailer.

For this campaign, Akkomplice worked with former director of Top Gear Australia, Rick Spence, and his production company Rawkus to produce the series, whilst Speed Media collaborated on the media planning and buying for the campaign element.

The ad agency said that for long-form video content, YouTube was the go-to platform, with Facebook and Instagram ideal for shorter, snackable episodes and teasers to optimise reach and engagement. 

Display, paid social and QR-trackable industry press ads direct the audience to view the full series via a bespoke site with pointed calls-to-action, encouraging dealer enquiry.

By Neil Dowling