Activating belief through cultural alignment

for:

Quanta Services

2021–2024 | North America and Puerto Rico

Fortune 200 Energy & Utilities

A man with a beard wearing a cowboy hat and denim shirt, standing beside a horse with a saddle and ropes, outdoors in a natural setting during dusk or dawn.
Two cowboys riding horses at a rodeo, chasing a calf on a dirt arena with a metal fence and trees in the background.
Two cowboys riding horses on dirt arena at night, chasing a calf, with a large cloud of dust behind them.
A person wearing a cowboy hat and jeans riding on a treadmill that is set up inside a garage, with American flags and various garage items in the background.

Value Summary:

Rather than starting with creative, this work applied brand thinking to decide where Quanta should show up and who it was truly for.

By activating shared values instead of chasing reach, the campaign created belief and momentum that extended beyond recruitment.

The problem

The energy industry’s workforce challenge is often treated like a persuasion problem: convince young people to care about the trades. Our research suggested a different truth. The right people already existed. The industry just wasn’t recognizing where they came from, or how they saw the world.

For Quanta Services, a Fortune 500 company with more than 50,000 employees, the opportunity wasn’t to change minds. It was to connect with an audience whose values already matched the work.

Without that insight, Quanta would have done what most companies do under pressure: guess, make assumptions, and spend effort trying to reach “everyone,” instead of building a relationship with a core audience that was already aligned.

Multiple website mockups for Quanta Rodeo, featuring images of people riding horses, rodeo scenes, and team photos, with text promoting a school rodeo team and related content.

The decision

Instead of building a campaign to persuade skeptics, Quanta chose to activate belief where it already lived.

Market and cultural analysis revealed a clear parallel between the values that define success in trade work and the values found in western and agricultural communities: dedication to hard work, hands-on capability, comfort with physical challenge, pride in skill, and deep respect for safety and tradition.

The strategy was simple. Meet the audience in their world, speak their language, and prove that people like them already belong here.

The Work

We built an ambassador-led storytelling platform rooted in the rodeo community.

We created documentary-style films featuring elite rodeo athletes who were also Quanta Ambassadors, capturing personal stories about discipline, hard work, responsibility, and pride. Rather than scripting corporate messages, we let the athletes speak plainly about what they believe, and why the work matters.

The films became the foundation of a broader system.

Content drove awareness and traffic into Quanta’s career pathways, while partnerships turned belief into tangible opportunity. We established Quanta’s High School Rodeo Team in partnership with the National High School Rodeo Association, creating a direct pathway for young athletes to explore the trades through scholarships, development opportunities, and exposure to real work.

At major national events, including the National High School Finals Rodeo, National Junior High School Finals Rodeo, and the FFA national convention, we brought the strategy to life through immersive experiences. Students climbed training towers, rode in bucket trucks, and learned directly from tradespeople who shared their values and their background.

Visually, the campaign reinforced a clear connection between rodeo culture and trade work without flattening either world. The message was direct: people like you are part of what powers modern life.

Four promotional posters featuring young workers in safety gear, standing outdoors with power lines and trees in the background, with various motivational texts about energy, capability, and self-empowerment.
Two printed posters/info sheets promoting Quanta's high school rodeo team. The left sheet contains detailed text about the team, messaging, benefits, and application info. The right sheet shows graphics and images related to the team and educational opportunities, including a rodeo scene and safety gear.
Outdoor community event on a grassy field with several tents, including a red Quanta tent, and a crowd of people, some seated and some standing, enjoying food and activities on a sunny day.
People standing in line at an outdoor event with tents and a large sign promoting a high school rodeo team, on a sunny day.
Child wearing a harness climbing a metal tower at an outdoor event, with two adults observing and one adult pointing, under a clear blue sky.
Three young people dressed in black shirts with Quanta logos, wearing cowboy hats and sunglasses, standing outdoors in front of a sign that invites to join their team at a rodeo or fair event.
A multi-page team guide document for Quanta Rodeo Team, 2022-2023, with images of rodeo scenes, team members, and an electric power line.
Screenshot of a document titled 'Quanta Rodeo Team Guide 2022-2023' with various pages containing schedules, requirements, project details, social media, branding, and legal information, with images of rodeo activities and team members.

What changed

The clearest signal the work was landing went beyond web traffic or engagement. It showed up in behavior.

Year over year, applications to join the rodeo team increased. More young people voluntarily signed up to be part of the community we were building, raising their hand not just for a job, but for identity, belonging, and opportunity. We knew we were doing something right when the audience chose to move toward Quanta without being chased.

What began as a targeted workforce initiative also became a broader expression of Quanta’s values. Corporate leadership recognized how strongly the stories reflected the company’s vision, and the content began showing up in executive events, internal communications, and broader brand storytelling.

A signature film featuring two Belgian draft horses became an internal metaphor for teamwork, partnership, and collective strength, resonating deeply with executives and operating company leaders. The work proved that when belief is real, it travels.

Why it matters

This was not a clever recruitment campaign, it was a belief activation system.

Quanta did not win attention by saying more. They won trust by showing up in the right place with a point of view that matched the audience’s reality. The result was not just stronger recruiting. It was a stronger signal about who Quanta is, what it stands for, and who belongs in the future of the trades.

A cowboy with a wide-brimmed hat holding a lasso stands beside a brown horse with a saddle, inside a horse arena with fog and bright lights in the background.
Silhouette of a person wearing a cowboy hat standing in front of a wildfire at dusk.
A man in cowboy attire standing on a dirt ground at night with smoke and fireworks in the background.
A person riding a horse on a dirt ground during night time, with dark clouds in the sky.
Silhouettes of two horseback riders with cowboy hats and a calf inside an indoor arena with dust and overhead lights.
Two cowboys on horseback participating in a rodeo event with a cow in an outdoor arena, mountain range in the background, overcast sky
A greyhound racing on a dirt track at night, with a blurred figure and dust in the background.
Black and white photo of a cowboy team roper inside an indoor arena, with motion blur indicating high speed.
Black and white photo of a group of horses running across an open field with rolling hills in the background.

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