Meet Ed Vance, Advance Auto Parts’ Superfan and New Bilingual Brand Character

As Advance Auto Parts prepares to celebrate its 90th 'Advanceiversary' this summer, the brand is launching a category first: a brand campaign featuring its No. 1 fan, Ed (Eduardo) Vance, a bilingual voice and brand spokescharacter.  The campaign targets the growing DIY market – those 16-34 year old auto enthusiasts who are looking to forge personal connections with a trusted confidante who can assist them in their DIY journey and “do it together.”

In fact, in a retail category largely seen as a sea of sameness, Ed Vance will help Advance stand out by drawing a quick connection to the Advance brand.  Brand messages will be delivered in a non-salesy series of 30, 15 and 6-second video spots in both English and Spanish, along with a social media campaign on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter (@EdVance4Advance).  Work will appear on platforms highly relevant to these emerging DIY drivers including Roku, Spotify, Pandora, Twitch and more.  Commercials will end with a new custom theme and sonic logo in two languages to drive brand recognition, while providing a memorable, hummable tune for DIYers: “This is How We Advance” (English) and “Avanza con Advance” (Spanish).  

The new campaign was developed through a collaboration of Advance partners including TMA (creative), dentsu X (Media), Dieste (Hispanic), BBMG (sonic branding) and FleishmanHillard (PR). As Harris Wilkinson, chief creative officer at TMA remarked: “Ed Vance is a super fan whose passion for Advance will help everyone see what sets this franchise apart.  After all, Advance Team Members are also DIYers.” 

He added, “Ed is a truly bilingual character, played by a bilingual actor, who can reach English and Spanish-speaking audiences alike.”