A complete campaign, by Tanner+West
A first campaign. A ten-point win.
A story that started long before the ballot.
One story.
Every place it needed to live.
The assignment
Rod Kuegel entered his first campaign for Daviess County Judge Executive with a lifetime of work behind him. The job was to help people see the connection between that life and the leadership he was offering.
We built the campaign around that connection. Storyfinding shaped the voice. The identity made it recognizable. Two films and an original photography library made it personal. The website, print pieces, and media buys carried the same story into the places people were already looking.
Strategy, writing, design, photography, filmmaking, web development, and campaign execution. All done in-house by Tanner+West.
01 / Storyfinding & campaign voice
Our Storyfinding sessions started with Rod's life: the farm, his family, his work, and the responsibilities he had taken on in the community. We listened for the language he used and the experiences he kept coming back to.
Those conversations became the foundation for the campaign's voice. Direct. Neighborly. Willing to listen. Grounded in a habit of doing the work. The writing needed to sound like the person people would meet at a kitchen table or a farm gate.
Family, farming, service, and stewardship gave the campaign its substance. Specific experiences made a first-time candidate understandable.
We turned those conversations into a consistent voice for the films, website, campaign materials, and advertising.
Every expression came back to the same person. The words, photographs, identity, and placements worked together across the campaign.
The campaign's own words
“A future worth coming home to.”
Rod didn't want Daviess County to lose its next generation. The line gave that worry a hopeful shape: a place where children and grandchildren can stay, return, and build a good life.
Its partner line, “Daviess County is worth the work,” said how he planned to get there.
02 / Brand identity
The identity centered on a bold Kuegel script, a clear statement of the office, and a high-visibility orange, black, and white palette. It gave the campaign an unmistakable look at a glance.
We built a family of marks and applications that could move from a billboard to a yard sign, a door hanger, a social placement, and a website header without losing its character.
Campaign orange
#F36F21
Black
#000000
White
#FFFFFF
A working identity system, shown through the original campaign artwork.
03 / Two campaign films
The films gave the campaign room to tell a fuller story. One introduced Rod through the life and work that shaped him. The second looked ahead to the opportunities he wanted families to have in Daviess County.
Story development, writing, production, and post-production stayed with our in-house team, keeping the voice and visual language connected from the first conversation to the final cut.
01 / Campaign film
An introduction rooted in the family farm, a father's example, and a responsibility to help when there is work to be done. The first film makes the case for Rod through the person he already is.
Watch on YouTube02 / Campaign film
The second film turns toward the next generation: the possibility of staying, returning, and building a life close to home. It expands the campaign's story from one person's roots to a shared future.
Watch on YouTubeWe prepared 30- and 60-second versions of the announcement film for streaming television and campaign advertising. The story could travel across formats while keeping a consistent voice.
04 / Original photography
The farm gave us more than a backdrop. The horses, the barn, the early light, and Rod moving through his morning put the campaign's themes into real scenes.
We built a broader image library around that foundation: conversations at the farm, time with family, and people together along the Owensboro riverfront. The photographs carried the campaign across the website, print, and advertising.
In the studio
Studio portraits gave the campaign a clean, direct look for print, social, and the website, without losing the warmth of the farm.
Original Tanner+West campaign photography. Select any image to see it larger.
05 / Web design & development
RodKuegel.com brought the voice, films, photography, and identity into one connected experience. Visitors could meet Rod, understand his vision, hear the stories behind the campaign, and share what mattered to them.
We designed and built the site in-house, with a clear path through the content on desktop and mobile. Paid social connected visitors to the website, where they could explore the campaign and share what mattered to them. The 5,000 Voices initiative gave listening a visible home.
Candidate story. Vision and priorities. Campaign films. Community voices. A responsive home for every part of the campaign.
Visit the website06 / Campaign strategy & media buys
We paired the creative with multiple ad buys across the media landscape. The media plan connected paid Facebook and Instagram placements with streaming television, outdoor, and print creative, giving each format a clear role in the campaign.
Our team coordinated the creative, versions, and placements together. Full films carried the longer story. Shorter spots served television and digital. Outdoor made the name recognizable. Print gave people something to read, keep, or take home.
01
Facebook and Instagram campaign placements connected the films, photography, and message with the website.
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30- and 60-second spots brought the campaign story to the television screen.
03
We coordinated a four-board Lamar outdoor plan, with bold creative designed to make the name recognizable from the road.
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Newspaper creative, yard signs, and door hangers carried the same identity into tangible, everyday encounters.
07 / Print & design
The identity had to hold together at very different scales. A billboard had seconds to make an impression. A newspaper ad could introduce Rod in more detail. A door hanger needed to work at the front door.
We designed the campaign's print and physical materials as one family: the same name, color, photography, and plainspoken voice adapted to the space each format gave us.
A closer conversation
A bold identity on one side. Rod's story and a path to learn more on the other. The door hanger connected the campaign's public presence with a personal point of contact.
All in-house
The people finding the story were connected to the people writing, designing, shooting, editing, building, and placing it. That continuity kept the campaign coherent across a large body of work.
It also meant every new piece could build on what came before it. A photograph could become a print ad. A line from Storyfinding could shape a film. The website could carry the conversation beyond the ad.
The result
1pt
Margin of victory
A campaign is earned in many conversations and many moments. Our part was to give Rod a clear, recognizable, and deeply personal way to show up in them. From Storyfinding to the media buys, the work stayed connected to the person at its center.
The full scope
Tanner+West × Rod Kuegel
01
Discovery sessions, campaign voice, message development, and a shared creative direction.
02
Campaign logos and lockups, color palette, typography, and a consistent visual system.
03
Two landscape campaign films, plus 30- and 60-second announcement-film versions. In-house writing, production, and post-production.
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Farm, family, community, and candidate imagery, created as a flexible campaign library.
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RodKuegel.com design and development, candidate and vision content, campaign films, and community participation.
06
Paid social, streaming television, outdoor coordination, newspaper creative, yard signs, and door hangers.
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