Amazon: Explore Your City
A driver-recruiting campaign that was shelved, then rebuilt in Amazon's new brand across three countries, with video
Campaign concepting
Art direction
The short version
I art directed this campaign twice: for peak season 2024, when the final ads were delivered but never ran, and in spring 2025, as the lead concept in Amazon's refreshed brand.
Amazon's delivery partners, the local companies that employ the drivers, need a steady stream of new drivers, and Creative Garage makes the ads that find them.
That second round also included a 15-second video I built entirely from Amazon's existing footage, with no new shoot.
PART 1 · PEAK 2024
One driver, three mindsets
Recruiting drivers in Boston and Seattle for the fall rush.
The campaign was built on a driver brand strategy that described three kinds of candidates. In July, I took each one to the team as its own complete campaign, with its own headlines, photography, and look.
Freedom First
"I find happiness outside of making a living." Now hiring explorers in Seattle.
Go-Getter
A strategic job seeker who wants a career, not just a job. Big, confident city names.
Make Ends Meet
Things took a turn, and they need a paycheck fast. Clear, tangible benefits.
First concepts, from top: Freedom First, Go-Getter, and Make Ends Meet.
THE MERGE
Two mindsets, one candidate goal
The best direction combined two mindsets. Freedom First and Make Ends Meet became one candidate goal: find independence in a job that pays my bills now. I tested four looks for it. The final pops the driver out of the frame and puts the headline on a dark gradient, so it reads even at the smallest sizes.
Four looks for the merged direction.
THE FINAL SET
A headline built to change
The headline was built to change without breaking the layout: the campaign cities by name, a generic "your city" for everywhere else, and a second message, "Start learning. Start earning.," for the next wave. The full set was delivered in the fall, then shelved.
The final Boston set.
PART 2 · Q2 2025
Same idea, new brand
One of the first campaigns in Amazon's refreshed brand, for the US, Canada, and Mexico.
Six months later, Amazon refreshed its brand, and the driver-recruiting team needed a spring campaign. This one would be among the first to use the new brand book, so the goal was to stay true to it: approved messaging, photography, and design, used in a way the brand could build equity in.
I brought "Explore your city" back as one of three concepts, each tied to a brand pillar. The new version crops city scenes into the brand's circle graphic, a simple way to say "this job lets you explore your neighborhood."
The same idea in 2024 (top) and rebuilt in the new brand in 2025 (bottom).
VIDEO
A video made from existing footage
The campaign also needed a video, with no new shoot. So I built the story from footage Amazon already had. I went through its library, pulled every usable clip, and sorted them by scene: vehicle, city, suburban, exiting the vehicle, delivery, and warehouse. Then I wrote two directions from what was actually there.
The hard part was continuity. The clips came from different shoots, vehicles, and uniforms, so every shot had to be chosen to keep one believable story going. Sometimes that meant framing a driver so you couldn't tell which van they were in.
Existing footage, sorted by scene.
The road: a montage of many drivers.
Your unique city: a day with one driver.
Storyboard animatics for both concepts, cut from stills of the footage I pulled.
I storyboarded both concepts, and a production studio produced the final video.
THREE CONCEPTS
One concept for each brand pillar
Autonomy
"Explore your city." Delivery as a way to get out and explore. Inviting and personal.
Opportunity
"Small teams. Big opportunity." A stable job, and a stepping stone to what's next.
Innovation
"Help shape the future of delivery." Big type and close-up hero shots, with an inspiring tone.
The three Q2 concepts, as Instagram Stories and display ads.
ROLLOUT
Three countries, three languages
The campaign ran in English in the US, in English and French in Canada, and in Spanish in Mexico. I planned the full production list: more than a dozen display sizes, plus static and video social in square and vertical formats.
The same ad, built to work as an Instagram Story and a Reel.
What I learned
A good idea can outlive its first campaign
Because “Explore your city” was built on a real insight about why people choose this job, it held up through a brand refresh, two seasons, three countries, and a new medium.
Shelved isn’t wasted
The peak 2024 ads were delivered and never ran. When the brand refreshed, the idea was ready, and it became the lead concept.
