“Be All You Can Be.” “Army of One.” “Army Strong.”
If you ever wonder about the success of Army marketing, you need look no further than the strong name recognition behind the U.S. Army’s slogans. In order to attract its next round of recruits, the U.S. Army recently unveiled its most recent campaign. ‘What’s Your Warrior’ is asking the next generation where they see their career – and showing how the Army can get them there.
The campaign launched just after Army leadership announced its first ‘Army People Strategy,’ a renewed focus on career development for soldiers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOi_abLAPJE
“I think it ties together very nicely with the Army’s overall people strategy, which includes talent management and key lines of effort,” said Brig. Gen. Alex Fink, the Army’s chief of enterprise marketing. “The very name of the campaign – ‘What’s Your Warrior’ – is right in line with the talent management ideas. What do you want to do?”
The campaign asks visitors or viewers that question, and based on their preferences, introduces them to the variety of career options offered in the Army right from the beginning. The GoArmy.com website offers broad career categories, and then shows potential recruits the dozens of career options available within that broad job category. From mechanic, to wordsmith, potential recruits can then drill down to more than 150 jobs, ranging in interest areas from biochemistry, law, and medicine, to the culinary arts and more.
“There are two principles that we believe to be true about this generation that helps frame up and inform the campaign,” notes Fink. “One is that these folks have a powerful sense of identity and they really do want to be the best versions of themselves…And second, they want to be something bigger than themselves and do it as part of a team. And that’s really right in line with what the Army can offer.”
Fink emphasized the Army’s wealth of training options, tuition repayment, and practical benefits. And also the intangible benefits of working within the context of a team to do something much bigger than a single individual.
In recent years, Army leadership has noted the civil-military divide, with roughly 80% of current military recruits coming from a family with some military service. In recent years, the number of new recruits with a parent still serving has dropped, but there is more progress that can be made.
“I think that we do that through just the nature of this campaign,” said Fink. “Which at the very center of it, it’s about surprising people, surprising people in many different ways.” Fink noted careful attention was made to create a ‘thumb stopping’ experience – showing viewers something they hadn’t expected, and then surprising them with the diversity of roles the U.S. Army offers.
With tandem goals of surprising and expanding the number of individuals considering Army service, the ‘What’s Your Warrior’ campaign worked with U.S. Army Recruiting command to select priority cities – specific, focus locations where recruitment could be improved, based on youth population and ‘receptiveness for military service’ – based on the Army’s past performance.
“In fiscal year 2019, the Army focused on 22 key cities and improved enlistments by an average of 15% in those areas,” said Kelli Bland, director of public affairs at U.S. Army Recruiting Command. “About 50% of youth today admit they know little to nothing about their military, so we focused our efforts on increasing awareness through a combination of marketing, interviews with local media outlets, events, and engagements with community leaders and influencers.”
The Benefits of Army Service: Gen Z and Beyond
The focus today is often on the propensity of individuals to job hop – with low unemployment, and a strong job market, the military faces the same challenges as civilian employers – when young people have a variety of options before them, how do you get them to choose military service?
“I think that I’m a long ways from being in Generation Z, but I will say that the reasons I joined and the reasons that I have stayed, over many years – almost 30 – are very similar to why we think some of these young folks are interested in it,” said Fink. “And it’s because being in the military does push me to become the best version of myself in many ways…and I love being around a team. I’ve been around many different types of teams and units throughout my time, and I love that.
The personal relationships a soldier serves with others can be compelling, and so are the tangible benefits that come with service, from education and training on a specific MOS, from cybersecurity to electronics, to writing and communication.
A New Campaign for a New Generation
The ‘What’s Your Warrior’ campaign is still in its initial stages, but Army Marketing is already seeing a positive uptick in interest. Fink noted they’ve had a 70% + increase in leads from the campaign. Those leads are then passed on to U.S. Army Recruiting Command, who follow up to make appointments. In late January GoArmy.com saw its highest number of visits. The current promotion is just chapter one of the campaign; subsequent chapters will be released in the months to come, to continue the story of ‘What’s Your Warrior’ – and show the next generation what military service might look like for them – and why it may not be what they’d expect.
