Turning National Welding Month into a community movement
Welding isn’t for everyone. Behind the hood, there are no shortcuts: only years of experience, instinct, and pride in doing the job right. That’s the spirit Miller has championed for nearly a century, and what they wanted to celebrate for National Welding Month.
Social Media
Creative Services
Email Marketing
Website Development
Accepting the challenge
The challenge was to create a campaign that felt authentic to professional welders’ badass spirit, while reinforcing Miller’s brand promise: We Build.
Rather than talking about products, Miller wanted to strengthen relationships with professional welders and the next generation entering the trade, and inspire welders to share their own stories throughout the month. The campaign set ambitious goals that would be measured not only by impressions, but by participation:
• 50+ user-generated submissions
• 3% social engagement
• Increased subscriptions to Miller educational content
Understanding our audience
To strike a chord with welders, we needed to understand who they are fundamentally, learning what matters to them. We dove deep into online forums to see how they speak and think. We quickly realized that welders have an incredible work ethic and pride in their craft. They take on rigorous and often grueling work, without hesitation, work long hours, and care deeply about quality. In short, we discovered that welders are “badass”. And that persona set the tone for the campaign.
Identifying the unifying element
We leaned into the feeling and mindset all professional welders know in an instant: the moment their helmet drops, distractions disappear, and years of experience, confidence, and craftsmanship take over.
It’s a state of mind called “Hood down”. That simple expression became the heart of the campaign
30 Days #HoodDown
This campaign became a month-long invitation for welders to share what they’re building, celebrate each other’s work, and demonstrate the pride they take in their craft.
The concept reinforced Miller’s brand promise without saying it outright. Every submission became proof that Miller builds alongside the people whose reputations depend on every weld.
Bringing the campaign to life
Rather than relying on a single promotion, we built an integrated campaign designed to keep the community engaged for all 30 days.
The experience included:
• Daily organic social content
• User-generated content contest
• Giveaway promotions
• Paid social amplification
• Email campaign
• Creator partnerships with welding influencers
• Dedicated campaign landing page
• Community storytelling
Every touchpoint reinforced the same simple invitation: Show us what you’re building #MillerHoodDown
Authentically driving participation
One of the biggest insights from the campaign was that polished marketing wasn’t what inspired welders to participate.
The strongest-performing content looked and felt like the welding community itself:
• Close-up welds
• Melting metal
• Shop environments
• Work trucks
• Fresh projects
• Simple invitations to share work
Posts that focused on authentic craftsmanship consistently outperformed more promotional creative, validating that Miller’s audience responds most strongly to content that celebrates the work rather than the brand.
Amping up the community
#HoodDown gave welders something to rally around, and an integrated mix of organic social, paid media, email and creator partnerships
kept the momentum building throughout National Welding Month.
The campaign exceeded its participation goals while generating strong engagement across every channel.
Organic social
Authentic, craft-first content kept the community engaged throughout the month, generating more than 619,000 impressions and 17,000 engagements. Launch posts, close-up welding imagery, and direct invitations to “show us your work” generated some of the strongest responses.
Paid media
Paid amplification took that energy further, adding more than
422,000 impressions and 25,000 engagements while delivering
a 6% engagement rate, double the campaign benchmark.
A six-part email campaign brought #HoodDown directly to Miller’s audience, delivering nearly 745,000 emails and generating more than 6,400 clicks throughout the month.
Creator partnerships
Trusted welding creators helped give the campaign an authentic
voice in the community, extending #HoodDown beyond Miller’s
channels and encouraging welders to join in and share their own work.
Welders shape the world around us. Their skill, passion, and humility inspire us every day, and we’re honored to recognize the work they do to keep our world moving. The integrated campaign made it easy for welders to share their stories and celebrate their craft, and the response from the community exceeded our expectations. Partnering with LoSasso was seamless from day one. They embraced our welding industry, took the time to understand our audience… even learned how to weld… and were genuinely invested in bringing the campaign to life. We can’t wait to work with them on future projects.
-Lindsay Wagner Brand Manager, Miller Welding.
Miller is a leading manufacturer of welding equipment, safety and protective gear, and automation solutions built for the people who put their reputation on the line with every weld. For nearly a century, Miller has worked alongside welders to understand the challenges they face and build dependable, high-performance solutions that help them do their best work. Because when the hood goes down, welders need more than great equipment. They need a partner they can count on.
