Justworks
Small Business, Big Journey
Role: Lead Copywriter
Channels: Events, South by Southwest
Collaborating with: Creative, events, customer success, & sales
The Campaign
This campaign brought Justworks to life at South by Southwest 2025. Taking cues from SXSW's official theme, Forge New Frontiers, I leaned into a Western tone of voice to position Justworks as an exciting, trustworthy partner for prospective customers discovering the brand for the first time.
Our Strategy
After diving deep into Western iconography and classic film archives, I landed on the campaign tagline: Small Business, Big Journey. It spoke directly to our core customer while naturally tapping into the "new frontiers" theme without feeling heavy-handed. The line carried a real point of view: just because you ran a small business didn't mean the journey was any less significant than what a large enterprise faced. That ambition deserved to be acknowledged.
That anchor line gave us the creative sandbox to have a lot more fun at the asset level. Some of my favorites were witty, specific, and did the work of communicating our product solutions without sounding like a product brochure.
Small business problems? This ain't our first rodeo.
From a lone star to a team of trailblazers.
For the perfect hire beyond the horizon.
For the dream wrangler. For the trail boss.
Small business problems? This ain't our first rodeo.
From a lone star to a team of trailblazers.
For the perfect hire beyond the horizon.
For the dream wrangler. For the trail boss.
The Result
SXSW was consistently Justworks' highest-performing event of the year, and 2025 proved it again through a meaningful influx of leads and conversions. The campaign stretched across every touchpoint of the takeover:
SXSW Expo: 10x20 booths, swag, digital monitors
SXSW Education Expo: 10x10 booths, swag, digital monitors
Café Takeover at Revolución: Co-branded cups, stickers, table tents, signage, and a custom mural by local artist Fabian Rey
SXSW Customer Party: Digital monitors and branded event collateral
Private Event at Franklin's BBQ: Invites and signage
Email: Outreach to both current and prospective customers
SXSW Expo: 10x20 booths, swag, digital monitors
SXSW Education Expo: 10x10 booths, swag, digital monitors
Café Takeover at Revolución: Co-branded cups, stickers, table tents, signage, and a custom mural by local artist Fabian Rey
SXSW Customer Party: Digital monitors and branded event collateral
Private Event at Franklin's BBQ: Invites and signage
Email: Outreach to both current and prospective customers