Love's Travel Stops Selects TRG as Strategic Marketing Partner for Creative Growth

Love's Travel Stops Selects TRG as Strategic Marketing Partner

In a significant move aimed at boosting its brand presence and marketing strategy, Love’s Travel Stops has officially named TRG as its strategic agency of record. This partnership will commence in January 2026, marking a new chapter for Love's as it seeks to further establish itself in the travel stop category.

Patrick McLean, the Chief Marketing Officer of Love's, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, "Love's looks forward to working with TRG to support our journey to build a marketing growth engine and evolve our already great brand into an iconic one that is virtually synonymous with the travel stop category." This statement underlines Love's commitment to enhancing its brand's identity and customer experience, a focus that has gained traction with recent staffing changes and the launch of strategic initiatives.

Earlier this year, Love's reached a milestone by appointing McLean as its first-ever CMO, a position that signifies its dedication to prioritizing marketing and brand strategy. In addition, the company launched Love's Media Group, a pioneering retail media network designed specifically for professional drivers and travelers across the highways of America. This new network represents a strategic alignment of Love's marketing efforts geared towards customer engagement, retention, and acquisition.

The decision to partner with TRG reflects Love's intent to leverage expert insights and creativity, furthering its mission to enhance customer experience. McLean noted, "Throughout our agency search process, we met with exceptionally smart and dedicated agency teams and were impressed by the quality of thinking, creativity, and talent across the board. Ultimately, TRG stood above the rest through their sharp strategic insights into our brand and our customers."

TRG, established in 1976, boasts a rich history of building iconic brands such as Orkin, Motel 6, and Chick-fil-A, amongst others. Pete Lempert, the CEO of TRG, remarked on the significance of this collaboration, emphasizing, "Love's is an American brand familiar to travelers across the nation. This is a dream opportunity for TRG to help propel the Love's brand to even greater heights."

The partnership began with Love's embarking on a creative and marketing agency search in the summer of 2025, engaging Joanne Davis Consulting from New York City to facilitate the selection. This collaboration is noteworthy as it represents Love's first foray into a strategic agency partnership, apart from a few smaller agencies involved in project-based work.

Love's Travel Stops has a long-standing reputation for fueling America's journeys since 1964 and continues to grow with nearly 666 locations spread across 42 states. The family-operated business not only focuses on providing essential services and products for professional drivers and travelers but also emphasizes giving back to the communities it serves and maintaining an inclusive workplace culture. Their culture is recognized as award-winning, emphasizing innovation and dedication to both service and employee satisfaction.

With TRG aboard, Love's is poised to unlock new avenues of growth and engage more effectively with its customers. The agency's philosophy of creating memorable experiences aligns with Love’s objective of becoming a more iconic brand in the travel sector. With both teams energized and ready to initiate this collaboration, the upcoming months promise to be an exciting period of transformation for Love's.

In conclusion, the partnership between Love's Travel Stops and TRG is a strategic alignment that aims to redefine customer engagement strategies and elevate the Love's brand to new heights. As they prepare to embark on this journey together, all eyes will be on the innovative marketing initiatives that will emerge from this collaboration.