Mack Trucks: By America’s side

Objective

Over 125 years, as Mack grew into a market leader, a bulldog named Mack was featured on the hood of every truck it produced. But over the years, intense competition and a features arms race flattened the market — Mack’s share along with it. We needed to remind the market how important Mack has been for America, re-instilling pride in the brand and re-establishing Mack as America’s greatest truck brand.

Solution

The idea was simple: bring Mack back. Our campaign, “By America’s side,” reconnected our audience to the beloved brand icon itself by placing Mack the bulldog alongside the emotionally resonant American structures Mack trucks helped build — from the Hoover Dam to the Empire State Building. 

Through a multi-channel strategy, including video, print and social, we reinforced Mack’s role in building America over time. Not a feature and function in sight. Instead, we showed Mack as a faithful partner to America’s truck industry. Only Mack could have this idea. The bulldog gave us the opportunity to convey loyalty and dependability on any scale, for any audience segment and any vertical market.

Results

We met or exceeded every campaign objective. Compared to previous brand campaigns, we achieved 34% higher engagement at a 59% lower paid media budget, and by Q4 2024, demand for Mack led to an order increase of 26% for its heavy-duty trucks — and a 264,000+ waitlist, directly attributable to the campaign’s impact. The campaign has since been organically adopted by Mack’s other markets, including Canada, Colombia, Australia and Mexico.

Internally, the campaign assumed a place of pride as the first-ever Mack campaign permanently placed in the Mack Trucks Historical Museum.