Strategic Communications Leadership · John Deere Waterloo Works
Customer Experience & Product Launch Events
Integrated communications strategy for two of John Deere's highest-profile product and customer moments — the Gold Key 100th Anniversary Centennial delivery and the live global reveal of the 9RX Series four-track tractor. Both required coordinating across manufacturing, engineering, product, marketing, media, and leadership teams to deliver unified communications across earned, owned, and shared channels.
The Gold Key Delivery — 100th Anniversary Centennial
In 2018, John Deere marked the 100th anniversary of its entry into the tractor business — dating to the 1918 acquisition of the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company. To launch the centennial year, the company coordinated a Gold Key VIP delivery unlike any other: the Purvis family (Wade, Karen, and Kyle) received tractor Serial Number 001 — the very first Model 8245R to come off the line for model-year 2018 — complete with a custom-stamped commemorative centenary badge and national press coverage.
This was not a standalone event. It was the opening moment of a larger 100-day centennial campaign, requiring integrated communications across customer experience, media relations, executive leadership, manufacturing, and the dealer network — all executing simultaneously, in public, with a live press component.
Gold Key tour group on the assembly line at John Deere Waterloo Works
The Gold Key welcome wall — each customer's name displayed at arrival
My Role — Communications Manager, John Deere Waterloo Works
- Developed and executed an integrated communications strategy supporting the Purvis family Gold Key delivery, customer engagement, centennial business priorities, and the broader 100-day celebration across all applicable audiences.
- Coordinated communications planning across all functional areas — including manufacturing, engineering, product, marketing, dealer relations, event production, and leadership — to align stakeholders and deliver a unified launch.
- Prepared leaders for media interviews, executive presentations, analyst engagements, customer interactions, and event visibility opportunities tied to the centennial milestone.
- Developed executive communications including speeches, presentations, talking points, employee messages, media preparation materials, and leadership visibility content.
- Created compelling messaging and content across earned, owned, and shared channels, including providing factory footage for video storytelling and coordinating broadcast media coverage.
- Supported customer announcements, the Gold Key experience, product storytelling, and the related industry and public-facing centennial events.
- Managed communications for organizational announcements, transformation initiatives, and change-management needs connected to the event and Waterloo Works operations.
- Monitored industry, competitor, and policy developments and provided strategic communications recommendations to leadership throughout the centennial campaign.
Earned Media Coverage
The Purvis family delivery and the centennial milestone were covered nationally across farm press and broadcast media.
Farm Progress: Florida Family Helps Celebrate a Tractor Milestone →Owned Channel
John Deere's own site featured the centennial Gold Key story as a hero feature, driving broad brand visibility.
Tractor.com: John Deere Celebrates 100 Years of Tractors →Live Global Reveal — John Deere 9RX Series Four-Track Tractor
The 9RX reveal was a live global broadcast streamed directly from the high-horsepower production floor at John Deere Waterloo Works — hosted by agribusiness broadcaster Michelle Rook, with factory manager Dave DeVault as the executive presenting the product's engineering capabilities to thousands of virtual and in-person viewers worldwide.
DeVault walked viewers through how Waterloo re-tooled its lines to support the 9RX's massive engineering advances — the 4-track articulation setup, vertical integration of the drivetrain and chassis, and the industry-leading horsepower range that would culminate in 710–830 HP autonomous-ready models. Every element — factory setup, executive presentation, media coordination, and the live channel strategy — required communication leadership from planning through broadcast.
Live global reveal broadcast — John Deere 9RX Series, Waterloo Works. Factory footage provided by Kelly Henderson.
My Role — Communications Manager, John Deere Waterloo Works
- Led integrated communications planning for the live 9RX reveal, aligning the launch with business priorities, customer engagement, product positioning, and growth initiatives across global audiences.
- Coordinated across all functional areas — including manufacturing, engineering, product, marketing, leadership, event production, and media teams — to deliver a unified launch from a live factory floor environment.
- Prepared leaders for media interviews, executive presentations, analyst engagements, customer events, and the live broadcast — including full media preparation for the factory manager's on-camera role as host and technical presenter.
- Developed executive communications for Waterloo Works leadership, including speeches, presentations, talking points, employee messages, and all leadership visibility materials for the event.
- Created compelling launch messaging and content across earned, owned, and shared channels, including providing factory footage for the broadcast and coordinating the video storytelling strategy.
- Supported the major product launch, customer announcements, live event, industry events, and trade-show communications supporting the 9RX rollout.
- Managed communications plans for organizational announcements, production changes, and related change-management efforts tied to the retooling of the Waterloo high-horsepower line.
- Translated complex technical content into compelling narratives — making the 9RX's engineering advances, track system, and horsepower story accessible to both trade audiences and the general public.
Why this experience transfers to aerospace & defense communications: The 9RX reveal required the same capabilities an aerospace communications role demands — translating highly complex technical product capabilities for multiple audiences simultaneously, coordinating across matrixed engineering, manufacturing, and marketing teams, preparing executives for high-stakes live appearances, and executing across earned, owned, and shared channels under tight timelines with no margin for error. The product may change. The discipline doesn't.