CommunityEditor
08-16-2009, 01:54 PM
The Army has led lots of campaigns, but this one’s a first.
On Aug. 3, the Army launched a new advertising campaign — the first in its history geared specifically at officer recruitment.
The effort, in development for the past year, includes a television blitz and a detailed Web site, both designed to generate awareness of officer options in the Army.
“We just felt there was a need to stress the benefits of being an Army officer,” said Bruce Jasurda, chief marketing officer for Army Accessions Command. “We are a nation at war, and the Army needs leaders, and we’ll continue to need leaders.”
The Army is under strength in the officer corps. Shortages of both majors and captains are projected for the next couple years — captains by about 2,000 and majors by about 3,000, Army Times reported in June.
Col. Derik Crotts, deputy chief of staff, G-7 (marketing), stressed the recruiting effort is a “proactive” measure and not reactive.
“We’re not looking for officers, we’re looking for the right officers,” Crotts said.
Potential officer candidates are out there who have no grasp of the Army’s options, Crotts said.
“The general public has a lack of knowledge about what it means to be an Army officer, and what it means to become one,” he said.
To get the message out, the Army is running two 60-second and three 30-second television spots during primetime shows such as “CSI” and “The Mentalist,” as well as on cable channels including MTV, ESPN and BET.
The spots include success stories such as West Point grad Joseph DePinto, now president and CEO of 7-Eleven, and Maj. Otto Padron, an officer in the Army Reserve and a senior vice president at Univision.
The television spots are slated to air through Oct. 1. A majority of the Army’s $9 million set aside this quarter for recruitment television advertising will be used for this campaign, Jasurda said. The Army is drafting plans for the campaign for the next fiscal year.
The intent of the commercials is to spark an interest in becoming an officer and direct viewers to goarmy.com/officer, explained George Dewey, executive creative director for McCann Erickson, the New York-based firm that developed the campaign.
The Web site shows five videos, including an introduction and four ways to become an officer. The viewer is encouraged to take a quiz to determine which path to becoming an officer is most appropriate: Reserve Officer Training Corps, direct commission, Officer Candidate School or West Point, which has just been ranked No. 1 on Forbes magazine’s list of America’s best colleges.
The campaign is intended to dovetail with the Army Strong campaign, also developed by McCann Erickson.
“This is a different kind of strength,” Dewey said.
In researching the campaign, Dewey said it became clear that the academic “cream of the crop” — a target in the campaign — has the wrong idea about the Army.
“They tend to think of the Army as synonymous with the infantry, when that’s not the right perception,” Dewey said.
The campaign is also meant to stress that becoming an officer is “path neutral,” Jasurda said.
“There is no typical candidate and not one typical way ... We tried to make [the campaign] as inclusive as possible,” he said.
In addition to multimedia efforts, the Army will also be getting the word out to community, business and school leaders to promote becoming an officer, Jasurda said.
Article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/army_campaign_081609w/
On Aug. 3, the Army launched a new advertising campaign — the first in its history geared specifically at officer recruitment.
The effort, in development for the past year, includes a television blitz and a detailed Web site, both designed to generate awareness of officer options in the Army.
“We just felt there was a need to stress the benefits of being an Army officer,” said Bruce Jasurda, chief marketing officer for Army Accessions Command. “We are a nation at war, and the Army needs leaders, and we’ll continue to need leaders.”
The Army is under strength in the officer corps. Shortages of both majors and captains are projected for the next couple years — captains by about 2,000 and majors by about 3,000, Army Times reported in June.
Col. Derik Crotts, deputy chief of staff, G-7 (marketing), stressed the recruiting effort is a “proactive” measure and not reactive.
“We’re not looking for officers, we’re looking for the right officers,” Crotts said.
Potential officer candidates are out there who have no grasp of the Army’s options, Crotts said.
“The general public has a lack of knowledge about what it means to be an Army officer, and what it means to become one,” he said.
To get the message out, the Army is running two 60-second and three 30-second television spots during primetime shows such as “CSI” and “The Mentalist,” as well as on cable channels including MTV, ESPN and BET.
The spots include success stories such as West Point grad Joseph DePinto, now president and CEO of 7-Eleven, and Maj. Otto Padron, an officer in the Army Reserve and a senior vice president at Univision.
The television spots are slated to air through Oct. 1. A majority of the Army’s $9 million set aside this quarter for recruitment television advertising will be used for this campaign, Jasurda said. The Army is drafting plans for the campaign for the next fiscal year.
The intent of the commercials is to spark an interest in becoming an officer and direct viewers to goarmy.com/officer, explained George Dewey, executive creative director for McCann Erickson, the New York-based firm that developed the campaign.
The Web site shows five videos, including an introduction and four ways to become an officer. The viewer is encouraged to take a quiz to determine which path to becoming an officer is most appropriate: Reserve Officer Training Corps, direct commission, Officer Candidate School or West Point, which has just been ranked No. 1 on Forbes magazine’s list of America’s best colleges.
The campaign is intended to dovetail with the Army Strong campaign, also developed by McCann Erickson.
“This is a different kind of strength,” Dewey said.
In researching the campaign, Dewey said it became clear that the academic “cream of the crop” — a target in the campaign — has the wrong idea about the Army.
“They tend to think of the Army as synonymous with the infantry, when that’s not the right perception,” Dewey said.
The campaign is also meant to stress that becoming an officer is “path neutral,” Jasurda said.
“There is no typical candidate and not one typical way ... We tried to make [the campaign] as inclusive as possible,” he said.
In addition to multimedia efforts, the Army will also be getting the word out to community, business and school leaders to promote becoming an officer, Jasurda said.
Article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/army_campaign_081609w/