When Celadon Trucking, the nation’s 4th largest carrier, came to Bayard, we proposed a radical approach to recruiting drivers. We said no gimmicks. No sales pitches. No double-talk. No nonsense.  We created a very simple campaign that used very little copy, no bullet points of incentives, bonuses and programs. Instead, we focused on one thing and one thing only: Straight Talk. Every ad put out in the market told a truism about the challenges of driving life, each piece ending with how Celadon addressed that challenge. The layouts were extremely simple, and instead of showing a truck, as most of Celadon’s competitors do, showed examples of how Celadon really cared for its drivers. The result? The most successful campaign in the company’s 20-year history. Recruiting numbers more than doubled from the day one.

Celadon was unique in that they had the courage to try a radically different approach with Bayard—a move that has paid off in more ways than one. The Celadon campaign did not win a single creative award but knowing we significantly helped our client’s business and changed the way an industry markets and sells itself—was reward enough.