We began working with the British Army in 2015 as part of a two-year strategy to change the way that the communities they wanted to build a dialogue with thought about a career with the Army. They wanted to create an emotional connection with the service. Our partnership has helped to create change in perception – a fundamental shift in the narrative away from usual perceptions of war, fighting and violence, to present the modern army that is inclusive and diverse.
The full breadth of our work included:
• Brand and recruitment ‘bible’ build
• A national campus tour including never-seen-before tech
• Influencer Marketing with The F2 Freestylers
• A managed females-only Facebook group
• The first Officer recruitment campaign for eight years
• The first Reserve Officer campaign for eight years
• Non-Graduate Officer Recruitment campaigns
• A national campaign to deliver ‘A Better You’ activation across the country
• Eleven Days in May, a fully-integrated and socially-led campaign
• BAME targeted campaigns
• Soldier recruitment campaigns
• Eleven Days in September, a fully-integrated and socially-led campaign
• Full social calendars to support each campaign
• Full digital/website support for all campaigns
• Full video and content provision support for each campaign
• Regional marketing to support six-regions across the UK with local effort
• Professionally-Qualified recruitment
• Army in Education outreach
• Programmatic media buying
My role in these extensive communications was the full responsibility and oversight of all creative execution.
Results
71% Increase in reach on Facebook Army Jobs
78% Increase in reach on Facebook Army Officer Jobs
33% Increase in Twitter impressions
13% Increase in engagement on Twitter
55% Increase in average page likes on Instagram
155% Increase in LinkedIn impressions
LinkedIn engagements up by 5,088 over the course of the 11 days, reach and engagement on facebook were both substantially above average.
The overall effect that had on the army recruitment figures both during and immediately after the initiative ended:
16% increase in applications
Application time reduced from 38 days to 25 days during the campaign
Halo effect on display advertising reducing cost per application from £96.53 to £72.92
