Going National

The image features a vertical, decorative text design with the words 'Merry Christmas' in gold, ornate font against a black background.

Your

World.

Illustration of construction vehicles on a mountain with sketched background.

A close-up of a house cat lying on a wooden surface, looking at the camera.

Your

World.

Ah, 2021.

A simpler time.

As Gelia geared up for the concepting phase for the 2022 Retail Awareness campaign refresh, we were met with some pushback. No, not for the merits of our creative. And not for the metrics from the last two years either. But for how we would move forward.

Ya see, Hello, Operator was a verifiable success from our standpoint and that of our clients. But the economic and logistical realities of COVID still lingered like the smell of a wet dog.

So, what to do?

Why! Keep going.

Again, of course!

But this time, two years after shooting and launching the previous edition of our Retail Campaign, at least we'd get to have a shoot again. But traveling to customer jobsites was off the table. So was hiring a remote crew. Not to mention, ongoing supply chain issues continued to be a thorn in everyone's side.

But I guess I like the challenge of limitation.

A black electronic device with LED display and control buttons.

target

A landscape image of a mountain with a snow-capped peak and a lake in the foreground

OWNER/OPERATOR

Owns 1-3 machines
Intimidated by Cat and its dealers
Incentivized by cost

goals

DEFINING SUCCESS

Flexibility to last two years
Produce content without travel
Increased sales and participation

challenges

THE UNEXPECTED

Rethinking production
Supply chain shortages
Post-production pipeline

CONCEPTING

Don’t Get Any Big Ideas

A close-up of a dark chocolate bar with a smooth surface.

Collage of advertisements and promotional images for Caterpillar (CAT) construction equipment and services. Includes images of machinery, people in safety gear, and graphics with slogans like "Welcome to Your World," "Protect Your Pursuit," and "Score More."

Close-up of a dark brown chocolate bar with a textured surface.

Yet another refresh.

Concepting began under the impression that this would just be another reskin, just with a fresh coat of paint and some new assets in our pocket. A Hello, Operator 3.0, if you will.

So we began tinkering.

We knew we wanted to maintain the tone but shift the style as dramatically as possible. And whatever solution we came to, we'd have to contend with limited access to new assets. We came up with some solid solutions, and some concepts still make me wonder "what if"?

A comic strip illustrating a construction site where a person is operating heavy machinery, greeting another worker, and riding inside a bulldozer, with a view through the bulldozer's window showing the construction area.

A STORY FIT FOR A BOARD

A dark scene featuring a brightly colored object, possibly a sports ball, on a surface with a gradient background.

Any one of them would almost certainly have proved easier than where we landed.

Either way, as concepting progressed, and feedback was absorbed, we started to hone in on a unique solution. What if we could streamline production all while targeting specific regions, demographics and industries?

Real machines. Real people. Illustrated backgrounds.

It’s almost too easy.

A close-up image of a dark brown to black coffee bean.

PRODUCTION + LOOK AND FEEL

Parlaying The Foundation

Close-up of a dark chocolate bar with nuts

A collage of construction equipment and workers. Top banner with a yellow skid steer loader and text saying "All the savings. All for you" against a background of a house sketch. Bottom left shows a yellow excavator on a construction site with a person operating it. Bottom middle depicts a yellow excavator working on dirt inside a building. Bottom right features two workers in safety vests and helmets standing on treadmill-like platforms, one holding a clipboard, with a green screen background.

Mobile device displaying a website for CAT compact equipment sales, featuring images of mini excavators and loaders with navigation options.

Two construction workers, a woman and a man, walking on a construction site with a digitally drawn background. The woman carries a tablet and the man uses a measuring device. Both wear orange safety vests and helmets, with the background featuring construction machinery and buildings.

Video play button icon centered on a black background.

Setting a new template.

A solid dark brown background with no objects or details.

Setting a

new template.

We approached Remedy with an idea, a timeline and a budget. They must have thought we were really cool, because they said yes anyway.

So we got to work developing a rig. One big enough to cover the machines so our friends at 19 Below could rotoscope them in post, and small enough to do it all locally. Then we still had to wrangle a variety of machines as dealers couldn't stock them fast enough. And we needed a location.

Like I said before. Too easy.

But it all came together eventually. Over some fairly challenging months that are directly attributable to my current hair count. But regardless, I'm immensely proud of what we were able to achieve. And challenging as post-production would prove to be, we set ourselves up for success, given that we had to keep this thing fresh for another two damn years.

A sunset over a mountainous landscape with scattered trees.

Gelia Creative Team

Nick Jibben

CD

Yours Truly | Luke Neumann (Copy)

ACD

Ginny Boehm | Randy Marx

AD

Robert Ray | Margeaux Shore

Sena Celik | Ian Myers

Jenny Seeliger | Kent Weigle

CW

Jo Eberts

ILL

Blake Hall | Brad Pipkins

DD

Production Partners

Allen Baker (Remedy)

DP

Josh Sliffe (Remedy)

PROD

Trey Morgan (19 Below)

POST

Gregory Poole Cat

DLR

Edward J Rapp CTC

CAT

MEDIA ASSETS

Built To Scale

Close-up of a dark brown bean bag chair with a textured surface.

Series of advertisements for CAT construction equipment, featuring yellow machinery and workers at construction sites. The ads include slogans like "Your world. Our support," "We have your back," and showcase various construction machines such as excavators, loaders, and backhoes with illustrations and photos. Text emphasizes support for local CAT dealers and industry professionals.

And we’re live.

#Blessed.

That’s because this creative team was truly an embarrassment of riches. In both talent and tenacity.

While our post-production partners hunched over their computers for weeks on end bringing our TV spot to life, we kinda did the same thing. Through a painful run of trial and error, led by a hungry young Art Director, Ginny, and brought to life by our in-house illustrator, Jo — we devised a production pipeline that enabled us to pump out unique pieces under consistently increasing demand. To my knowledge, we never missed a deadline.

Might have written off a few budget overages, though.

Printed promotional flyer featuring construction equipment such as excavators and loaders with text about savings and offers on construction machinery.

A computer screen showing a website with the heading 'Home' and a background image of a city skyline at night.

A red and black rectangular object with a black circular element in the center.

OFFERS + INCENTIVES

A yellow Caterpillar excavator bucket digging in the ground next to a promotional stand with construction-themed text and images, including a small excavator lifting a concrete bucket, and offers for financing.

The Real Dealer

A black and white image of a soldier holding a rifle, wearing a helmet and military gear.

Throughout the Retail Awareness campaign, offshoots like National Offer and Conquest came to Gelia with unique needs and goals. We continually revised and tailored the look and tone of the overarching Your World campaign to satisfy each.

Dealers noticed. So did their customers.

And as the economy started picking back up, we were there to back dealers with the same expertise and support as before, but with a fresh new coat of paint.

A black and white photograph of a rocky coastline with water and distant islands.

Incentive is a four letter word.

A construction equipment attachment with a pair of black Caterpillar work boots, a black and yellow Caterpillar baseball cap, and a small black backpack, all placed on a black surface.

Close-up of a small black and white dog wearing a blue collar.

An outdoor scene featuring a person riding a bicycle on a trail surrounded by green trees.

A cassette tape with a printed label featuring a partially colored illustration of construction equipment, specifically a yellow backhoe and a large bent tree trunk, with the caption "WE GET IT." at the bottom.

CAMPAIGN EXTENSIONS

Remixed Media

Close-up of a dark brown chocolate bar with a smooth surface.

A solid outline.

Again, this was all meant to last for a couple years. So planning for a few refreshes and offshoots was always on the menu. When year 2 rolled around, we were greeted with a nice surprise. We were a go for another shoot. Immediately we knew we wanted to up the wow factor without upping the difficulty. Aside from a somewhat rocky start in our post-production process, we felt the biggest downside to our first run of the Your World campaign was that the content often felt a bit rigid.

Job 1 for year 2 — move more.

Tricky. Especially given our spatial limitations. But once again Remedy and 19 Below came through. The resulting TV spot featured more movement than an under-60 spin class, and the photos we captured breathed new life into our static executions.

A yellow construction loader with a bucket attachment in front of an open magazine featuring construction equipment and advertisements for CAT construction machines and financing offers.

Dark brown horizontal surface or background.

A black rectangular screen with a red horizontal line across the top.

LETTERING + TYPOGRAPHY

A person sitting on a small yellow CAT excavator with text promoting mini excavator training and branding from CAT.

It Takes All Types

Close-up of a sign with the text 'Trucking Company' in white letters on a black background.

An illustrated approach.

In general, Caterpillar is pretty flexible when it comes to type. They've got their brand-approved fonts, sure. But it's a pretty big sandbox.

According to the brand guidelines, one way to speak directly to (and sometimes for) the customer is to utilize a hand-drawn font or lettering.

And utilize we did.

From custom, 3D lettering to simple manipulation of some handwritten fonts, the illustrative nature of this campaign gave us a fresh foundation for wordplay.

Text that says 'GRAB' in large yellow letters with a black background, and a graphic of a plate with food and chopsticks.

A dark brown chocolate bar with a glossy surface and a rectangular shape.

Illustration of two yellow construction vehicles, a backhoe and an excavator, positioned on either side of large 3D graffiti-style "SLOGAN" text with debris in front of it.

MINI EXCAVATOR CAMPAIGN

A Weave Of Their Own

Black text on a yellow background that reads 'DON'T BE A WOMBAT'.

MINI EXCAVATOR CAMPAIGN

Caterpillar's product groups often like to develop their own unique campaigns, whether for product launches or more general awareness. In this case, the Cat Mini Excavator team loved what Gelia was doing elsewhere within their division. They set out to create a campaign and TV spot that touted the products USPs, all while upping the wow factor once again.

A one-shot oughta do the trick.

And holy cow, was this one tricky. Whip-pans and quick-zooms galore. All compiled to give the illusion of one long take that moves seamlessly from jobsite to cab, and everywhere in between for a dynamic spot that let us highlight each of the product line’s USPs.

Illustration of an excavator digging at a construction site with buildings and trees in the background.

The mini goes mega.

A film strip featuring photos and illustrations of construction equipment, specifically a yellow backhoe loader, with parts showing a person operating the control panel and working on a construction site with rocks, a building, and palm trees.

A graphic sequence of construction excavators in various scenes, including operation, control, and site work, with construction sites and palm trees in the background.

Black icon of a person with an arrow in front of them, surrounded by a gray circle. The word 'play' is written above the icon.

A black device with multiple ports and cables on top of a black surface.

MINI EXCAVATOR SWEEPSTAKES

Social Butterflies

A digital illustration of a miniature excavator inside a glass bottle, resting on a large book with the caption 'ENTER TO WIN A MINI EXCAVATOR'. The illustration is displayed on a smartphone screen, with a social media post promoting a contest by catconstruction.

Close-up of an ornate black metal gate with gold decorative details.

Promotional graphic for a contest to win the world's greatest work trip, featuring images of Caterpillar construction equipment, training center, mini excavator, and prize packages including a mini excavator, e-learning package, and branded merchandise.

Drawing a following.

The Mini Excavator offshoot campaign was a pretty big deal.

Certainly the first time we'd ever done an entire TV spot for a single product line. And on the social front, that offshoot lead to another — The World's Greatest Worktrip — a social giveaway that promised to bring 4 crews out to Caterpillar's Clayton, North Carolina training facility for 3 days of operator training, culminating in the biggest, little souvenir of all.

More fun for us though. With clients wanting another illustrative twist, we gave them a set of knick-knacks to remember.