The Problem

Shop class is disappearing. Metabo HPT's mission is simple: bring it back. But advocacy alone doesn't move a generation. High schoolers and their parents are already thinking about college — and the trades aren't even in the conversation. The real challenge wasn't awareness. It was aspiration.

The Insight

In an era of automation, there is nothing more radical than being able to say: made by me.

The trades aren't a fallback. They're among the highest-paying, most future-proofed careers in the country — and the people in them built the world everyone else just lives in.

An anthem film, made by me.

The Campaign

made by me. is a campaign built on the pride of authorship. By repositioning the trades as creative, cultural, and deeply human, we set out to make trade education feel worth demanding — in schools, at home, and in culture.

Activation

Identity Scan → Build Lab Students don't avoid the trades because they lack interest. They avoid them because no one has ever helped them see themselves in them.

Students complete an Identity Scan that assigns a Builder Archetype: Creator, Engineer, Designer, or Storyteller. They enter a Build Lab and make something real. When the build is complete, it unlocks personalized career paths, salary ranges, and trade programs. Identity becomes pathway. Fantasy becomes possibility.

Content Strategy

87% of Gen Z uses YouTube to learn new skills. Nearly 60% prefer it over textbooks. The audience is already there. We proposed making Metabo HPT the universal shop class on YouTube through two content streams:

How-to & Skill Content — Practical, tutorial-driven builds. Aspirational in framing, useful in value.

Made by Me Spotlights — Long-form features on craftsmen and makers who built something remarkable. The designer behind a Super Bowl halftime show set. An engineer on the James Webb Telescope. People who made things that moved culture — and happened to start with their hands.

OOH ADS

The “made by me.” platform extended into physical space: