AEM
This is an experiential marketing campaign I helped develop for the association of equipment manufacturers during my tenure at craft media/digital
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) represents the voice of the equipment manufacturing industry, amplifying the stories of the 2.2 million men and women who build, power, and feed the world. With member facilities across the country, AEM sought to develop a campaign that could unite its members across regions and industry sectors through in-person engagement. That vision led to the creation of the AEM Manufacturing Express bus tour.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley speaking at a AEM Manufacturing Express event at Vermeer
AEM purchased a Prevost H3-45 bus to bring its advocacy efforts directly to manufacturing communities. To date, the tour has completed 123 events across 25 states, with more to come. My team at CRAFT played an integral role in the campaign’s conception, development, and execution from the outset. I have personally spent 18 weeks on the road with the tour, where I strengthened my leadership skills by managing onsite operations and ensuring each event achieved its full potential.
The campaign delivered strategic value to AEM across several key areas. First, it served as an effective tool for recruiting manufacturing workers to I Make America, AEM’s grassroots advocacy program. Client data and years of experience demonstrated that in-person activations, such as trade shows and facility visits, generated signatures at a significantly lower cost per acquisition (CPA) than targeted digital campaigns. By offering workers a free hat in exchange for signing up at events, the campaign helped AEM grow its email database by tens of thousands of contacts each year.
DY Concrete Pumps workers play the Manufacturing Challenge during an event at their Texas facility
The tour also generated valuable earned media coverage and strengthened relationships between manufacturers and elected officials. Each Manufacturing Express event created an opportunity for local media to highlight the impact of manufacturing companies on their communities. It also gave local lawmakers a compelling reason to visit facilities, engage directly with their constituents, and voice support for policies that protect manufacturing jobs. This example highlights local media coverage of a Manufacturing Express stop at Erie Strayer this past summer.
I was involved in the development of essentially every creative deliverable for this campaign since the start. That included the design of the bus wrap and the campaign’s overall look and feel, the award-winning website, the video game workers played onsite, and countless others. The scale of this campaign meant that lots of different forms of collateral had to be created for different purposes, including branded giveaways, lawmaker recruitment documents for the GR team, and even toolkit assets for member facilities to promote their visits on their own channels. That gave me valuable experience as a project manager, and also allowed me to use my abilities as a copywriter. Most notably, this included the blog posts or recaps that followed every event.
On the bus tour website manufacturingexpress.org, readers can find stories from every event we’ve done and many of the interesting people of the industry we’ve met along the way. As the team captain on the road, one of my responsibilities was to write the blog posts about every facility we visit. These were informed by conversations with company leaders, and would mostly focus on the history of the company, the equipment they manufacture, how they make their community and the world a better place. Here are a few of my personal favorites from over the years:
Being a part of this campaign is one of the greatest privileges of my career, shepherding the development of much of its award winning creative. This included its robust campaign website manufacturingexpress.org, a full length documentary with an accompanying trailer, and much more. Awards included:
5 Communicator Awards for 2025
5 Telly Awards for 2025
5 Davey Awards for 2024
4 w3 Awards for 2025
FINALISTS in the 2025 SABRE Awards North America
HONORABLE MENTION at the 2025 PRNEWS Platinum Awards
HONORABLE MENTION at the 2025 Experiential & Events PR Awards
Each of these companies and the people who work there have their own rich histories and stories to tell. Being able to meet them all firsthand, help share their story, and break any misconceptions the general public has about manufacturing has been one of the most personally rewarding things I have ever gotten to do in my personal career.
