Hi Chevy! Johnny here.
Here’s my pitch for the Chevrolet Lead Dream Chaser Contest... If I win, I’ll plan to travel around the country visiting some of the friendliest cities in the USA to introduce the Hi brand and the Chevy Trax. With a 100k and a Chevy Trax for 3 months, there’s so much we could do!
Since the official pitch has to be under 60 seconds, it’s here on Instagram & TikTok:
Below is a longer version with some fun bits that I had to trim out of the official submission. This was a lot of fun to whip up and make! Huge thanks to Carlos De Verona from Chroma House Productions for coming out and helping me shoot this.
Along with the submission video I submitted and answered these questions too.
Q: What is your dream? Tell us about your side hustle/passion project.
A: Hi Chevy. Johnny here. My dream is to build the friendliest brand in the world. The Hi brand is a merch and e-commerce brand celebrating greetings from around the world and the unifying idea that simple gestures and phrases can spark conversation, joy and human connection.
I’d love to use the title of Lead Dream Chaser and the Grand Prize to fund a road trip across the country in the Chevy Trax to visit some of the friendliest cities in the USA. We could call it, “Hey Across The USA presented by Chevrolet.” Along this journey, I’ll meet up new friends, creative partners and capture content that inspires positivity while shining a light on the importance of friendliess.”
Q: How will we share this on social media? In a way that captivates and engages audiences…
A: Each week we’d hit the road with the Chevy Trax to visit a new city, creating a video and highlighting an activation that captures the friendly human spirit.
On top of saying Hi from iconic landmarks and fun places on the road, we could do a variety of activities and creative stunts that engage people in real life while creating fun and inspiring content.
Example Ideas For Creative Content:
Create a video with the Chevy Trax about the art of “Friendly Honking”
Pack up the Trax and attend a local market for a Hi Pop Up Shop.
Pick up a friend in the Trax for a Hi brand photo and content shoot.
Load up the Trax with Hi merch and hand it out to friendly people who wave back at us.
Create a video, capturing various friendly local faces, unique greetings, (Yo, Howdy, etc...) and a variety of different waves.
Capture iconic Hi Johnny wave videos from epic locations and city landmarks, highlighting the charm of great cities and the joy of an American Road Trip.
Get a group of friendly strangers to come together and coordinate a group wave.
Q: Tell us about you. Showcase your creative and storytelling abilities..
A: I created HiJohnny.com to showcase my creative work over a decade ago. The front page of the site sparked an idea to create a long running film series of me walking in frame and waving from different locations. The video is now over 40 minutes long and features me waving from places I’ve visited or lived like Michigan, India, Brazil, San Diego, Miami… just to name a few. It’s a pleasant and peaceful video that seems to bring joy to people.
Evolving from that, I built the Hi brand and launched a shop online creating original designs and highlighting greetings from around the globe. Simple bold sayings on black and white shirts are just the blank canvas to get the wheels rolling — I’d love to eventually partner with artists from around the world to create designs that represent their local greeting with shared profits going to support the artists!
While the friendly fashion and merch is one component, I see it as the Hi brand’s humble beginnings. Ideas for a friendly community involving creative events and meet-ups, a digital app or arena that connects fans of the brand, and a series of entertaining stories that share how inspiring friendships came to be — are all part of the Hi brand’s vision.
Currently, I live in Miami, Florida but I grew up in Clinton Twp, Michigan. Chevrolet has been a big part of my life story and experience on the road. While I currently don’t own a vehicle… my first car was a ‘99 Chevrolet Blazer. When working around Detroit, I’ve also been the proud lessee of two Chevy Volts — a white 2014 I nicknamed Vinnie and a black 2017 model I donned with the moniker Vito. I would love to continue my story with the Hi brand + Chevy and have this awesome experience to chase my dream in the 2024 Trax! Thank you for this opportunity to share my story!
Lastly, here’s a little official context from Chevrolet about the Lead Dream Chaser contest.