Together We’re More Campaign highlights Choctaw spirit and impact

Faith, family and culture are the driving forces behind the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Generations of Choctaw resilience and achievement shape these core tenets, made possible by building a Choctaw family with a culture of collaboration.

This collaboration is what Choctaw Nation’s “Together, We’re More” campaign is all about.

Readers may have seen commercials, billboards, social media posts or other media with the “Together We’re More” tagline but perhaps have never considered the story behind it.

From the beginning, the goal was to show how the Choctaw Nation worked with others to grow the reservation’s economy and the surrounding area. It also inspired the next generation to collaborate for a better future.

According to Sarah Jackson, Senior Director of Brand Marketing at the Choctaw Nation, the campaign began with one mission: to show the nation’s diversity.

“We were trying to show how diverse the Choctaw Nation was,” said Jackson. “When you spend your money with the Nation, it goes to bigger things.”

Jackson gave an example of one of the first ads produced in 2017 that stated, “Our travel plazas fuel more than cars.”

According to Jackson, this ad highlighted how every Choctaw-owned business supports the tribal members and the local economy.

Together We’re More is not simply a tagline.

Economic reports give a clearer picture of the Choctaw Nation’s impact on the entire State of Oklahoma.

According to Dr. Kyle Dean, Economist for the Center for Native American and Urban Studies at Oklahoma City University, in 2018, the tribe had a $2.4 billion economic impact on the state. This number increased by hundreds of millions over a few short years to a staggering 3.2 billion in 2021.

According to Jackson, by the time the campaign reached its third iteration, they were focused on illustrating the Choctaw Nation’s role in strengthening the community.

While this was a success, Jackson said they had missed the emotional tie to the Choctaw people they had hoped for.

“We went a little too far towards “matter of fact” and lost some of that emotional tie,” she said.
This feedback led their teams and The Richards Group, the outside agency that helped with the campaign, to the fourth and most successful version, Together We’re More 4.0.

“We consistently see engagement from audiences throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas,” said Charlotte R. Hodson, a Market Research Analyst with the Choctaw Nation. “However, we have had stories that had a global impact, like in June 2023 (Wilson Roberts), which reached over 50 different countries.”

According to Jackson, their lessons from the first three versions enabled them to craft something more culturally focused.

“We wanted to lean into being Choctaw proud, and we wanted to show our tribal members and really focus on them,” Jackson said.

The 4.0 campaign celebrates people from across the Choctaw Nation who contribute to the community in many ways, each equally important.

One of the most significant changes was incorporating the Choctaw language more prominently in the messaging.

The Choctaw phrase “Chahta ilefehnachi li” or “I am Choctaw Proud” was prominently displayed across the created media.

As the 4.0 campaign has grown, so has the team behind it. The Choctaw Nation’s creative teams have begun producing this extensive campaign with less help from outside agencies and resources.

“Our internal teams are now producing 95% of all created content,” Jackson said.

According to Sara Seals, Marketing Director of the Choctaw Nation, the Nation’s teams create everything from social media to written content, videos and pictures.

“Internally, for our communications division, it’s been a project that has gelled us together in a way,” said Seals. “We can see more of each other’s functions and what they do. It’s a lot of learning about each other and our roles and then taking that knowledge and building even better projects.”

Seals also mentioned that the Choctaw Nation had saved money by tackling these projects internally instead of paying an outside agency.

One department that has helped with these cost savings has been the multimedia department.

According to Trevor Rogers, a Senior Digital Content Producer at Choctaw Nation, even with a small team, they have been able to do big things.

Rogers has experience in the film industry and freelancing on large productions and knows that producing broadcast commercials requires a lot of different people.

“Sometimes you can have three people to operate a single camera,” he explained. “We don’t always have the luxury of having a giant crew. Our team has had to adapt and wear multiple hats in order to produce the same quality. But everyone is willing to pitch in and help. This has given us an opportunity to really show what our small team is capable of.”

This ingenuity has saved money and simplified the communication of the vision from inception to completion.

“Being able to work with everyone in our department directly, you really get this personal touch and extra level of detail that is brought to this project,” said Rogers. “Everyone is very passionate about this campaign.”

Production has begun on Together We’re More 5.0.

According to Jackson, they hope to continue communicating the same message with the new content being created.

“People have really resonated with ‘I am Choctaw Proud,’ and that has been part of our brand promise and mission for eight years now,” said Jackson. “That’s something that people are understanding is part of who we are as an organization and as a tribe.”

According to Jackson, some exciting new stories and content are coming up with the same vision.

“This is the first time, with 5.0, that we haven’t recreated the wheel,” explained Jackson. “We aren’t really deviating too much from what we have done in 4.0, but we are being a little more intentional with some content.”

Together We’re More is not only a celebration of the Choctaw culture and impact.

It is a testament to the teamwork and collaboration of the Choctaw Nation and those who have faithfully told the story, showing that together, we indeed are more.