|
Background
The Territorial Army is an essential part of the British Army, representing
25% of its personnel. Montpellier is retained by the West Midlands Reserve
Forces and Cadets Association (WMRFCA) to boost recruitment figures
for the TA in the region. In addition we were tasked with looking at
the need for Young Officers specifically. Although precise figures fluctuate,
the WMRFCA estimated that they were under-recruited in the region by
as much as 40%.
Objectives of the Young Officer Campaign...
• To promote the benefits of Young Officer TA membership to 21-30
year olds and,
specifically, graduates and young professionals
• To highlight the leadership qualities and skills gained from
being in the TA which are
directly transferable to, and invaluable in, civilian careers
• To inform the target audience that they get paid for their time
in the TA
Planning
The planning started by surveying current Young Officers and how, and
at what age, they joined the TA. The statistics showed that the majority
joined between the ages of 21 and 25 and they were in their first job
after university. With such a specific target audience of young professional
people we needed to reach, the planning process then moved on to researching
a number of options to produce an integrated campaign with a common
message and a number of different routes of response.
The result was a combination of advertising, direct mail, a dedicated
website, media relations and forging close business relationships with
relevant business networking organisations.
Implementation
Advertising: As well as newspaper advertising in a selection of key
titles spread geographically throughout the West Midlands (which have
a proven track record for attracting response from our target audience),
we also researched cinema advertising as the profile of the audience
fitted our needs. But we were aware that it was unlikely the audience
would write down phone numbers of website addresses in a darkened cinema
but they would probably have a mobile phone with them. As a result we
used the option of text-messaging as a way to request further information.
The campaign ran with UGC cinemas for eight weeks in the Spring.
Direct Mail
There was a specific need for TA Young Officers with particular trade
skills, such as engineering, which related to specialist industries
in the West Midlands. To target these people we devised a direct marketing
campaign using databases from trade organisations in the West Midlands
including the Vehicle Body Repairers Association (VBRA), the Association
of Chartered Certified Accountants, Civil Engineering Contractors Association,
Civil Engineering Contractors Association, and the Institute of Electrical
Engineers. We designed and produced specific A5 mailers which were included
in trade publications and sent out to members.
PR Activity
The strategy for the media relations was to demonstrate to the target
audience that TA Young Officers were people just like them living and
working in the West Midlands. We liaised with the TA’s 40 Units
in the region to identify local Young Officers who would provide suitable
case studies. Profiles were written and sold into local and regional
press, emphasising how membership in the TA had helped in the success
of their civilian, professional careers. A highlight of this activity
was the identification of two women officers who were Personal Assistants
by day. Their story was featured in the Crème section in the
Times; the supplement dedicated to PAs and secretaries.
Sponsorship of the Birmingham Young Professional of the Year Competition
A key element of the strategy was to link up with a professional business
organisation in the region that would give us direct access to our target
audience. We identified Birmingham Future, an organisation with a membership
of more than 300 companies. More importantly Birmingham Forward had
spawned Birmingham Future – an organisation of more than 700 young
professionals working across the West Midlands Region. To build relations
with both Future and Forward and gain a profile amongst members, the
TA also sponsored the training and recruitment category in the prestigious
annual Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY) competition.
As a result of category sponsorship, the TA was also featured in pre-
and post- event publicity in the Birmingham post and in all promotional
material produced for the event.
Young Leader Competition: The aim of this competition was to identify
outstanding young leaders in the WM region and show the link between
organisational performance and leadership skills, which Young Officers
gain in the TA by virtue of their training and varied deployments. We
linked up with the Birmingham Post to promote the competition.
Website
With so many general TA enquiries coming via the web it was vital that
a dedicated website was a key part of the integrated programme http://www.wm-reserves.co.uk/officers.html
Evaluation and Measurement
of the Campaign
The evaluation of the integrated activity was measured by the West Midlands
Reserve Forces and Cadets Association (WMRFCA) by the amount of ‘serious’
enquiries that are received by a TA.
A dedicated phone system was set up to handle enquiries and direct respondents
to the nearest TA centre. To date, our Young Officers campaign has generated
a total of 111 enquires to ‘find out more’; 88 by phone,
17 through emails and 6 text messages. From these enquiries, information
packs have been sent out and the TA Units are following them up directly;
currently 38 individuals are actively discussing TA membership. The
campaign cost £15,000 - that translates into only £135 per
qualified lead – an outstanding conversion rate. The national
rate for regular army and TA recruitment is £400 per lead.
|