Start Thinking Soldier

Background

The campaign had two objectives to recruit its core target of 16-24 year olds.

First was the regular requirement to generate leads which could then be converted into new enlistments in the infantry.

The second was a new objective: to encourage those who had been previously unwilling to contemplate joining the Army to consider spend time in an environment where they could learn more about it. This second target might then ‘join up’ later but in the meantime would act as more positive ambassadors for the Army within their peer group.

Idea

To influence those who were not already interested in the Army required a completely new communications model. Somehow the idea had to buy the time to build a relationship with these more distant prospects.

TV, rather than being the lead medium, became the feeder medium, driving large numbers to a purpose-built website, Start Thinking Soldier.  The site was made absorbing and sticky through a high quality gaming-style element, designed with both a games developer and the Army themselves in order to accurately reflect real operations.

All this was delivered over four separate waves, each using a different ad/web mission targeted to showcase different Army skills and roles. Warmed prospects were then invited to live events where they participated in similarly themed physical challenges, run by real soldiers they could meet and talk to.

While Publicis held the advertising and digital accounts, Tequila was responsible for the eDM and DM and Skive led the game development side of the creative approach.

All worked as one team, permitting TV commercials, web films and substantial ‘live’ game content to be shot in a single six-week overseas shoot, using real soldiers. Press teasers, radio and web advertising were then created around this, while Publicis and Skive completed the animated aspects of the ‘games’.

Results

Because Army recruitment advertising is a major investment, it is heavily measured and analysed. The customer journey from first contact to enlistment can take many months, sometimes more than a year, and so it is too early to calculate precise ROI figures. However:

Web visits were up by 150% year on year. Over 1.2 million people have visited the Start Thinking Soldier site, with over half a million playing the game. Dwell times were unusually high at more than 10 minutes per visit with unusually low bounce rates of below 2%. The eDM achieved amazing results, with a click-through rate from opened emails of 29%: an increase of 17% on The Army’s average click-through rate of 12%.

12,000 people visited the Live Event pods at locations around the country. In all, almost 100,000 contacts were made, creating 10,000 appointments within the campaign period, with on-line job applications up 13% year on year.

Post campaign tracking shows ‘Interest in Joining the Army’ at the highest level this century, following record levels of ad awareness : 69% spontaneous, 89% prompted, 92% ad recognition.

For the first time in many years training places are all filled and so the Army is currently off-air.

Our Thoughts

When agencies of different persuasion and with different owners come together, they do not always make for happy bed-fellows. Often it is the agencies who come from within the same network group that fight the most. Sir Martin Sorrell called it “Kiss and punch”. So, whoever managed to get all these different people together concentrating on one shared agenda and one common vision of what success would look like deserves a medal.

As marketing communications becomes increasingly complex, agencies are going to have to learn to collaborate a damn sight better than they have been used to. It is good to see Publicis London is leading by example.