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New recruiting ads focus on Army careers

The Army rolled out five new recruiting commercials that are aimed directly at prospects — rather than parents and other “influencers” — inviting them to “see what it’s like” to be a soldier by visiting the Army recruiting Web site.

Like the first eight commercials launched in October 2006, the new ads use the slogan “Army Strong” and the catchy, victorious music to match.

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But unlike those ads, some of which featured touching scenes at kitchen tables between soldiers and their parents, the five new ones place heavy emphasis on the career opportunities available to Army-trained people.

“As it turns out, camouflage is a great way to get noticed,” comes the commanding voice of actor Gary Sinise, who in a low register informs the viewer the Army offers “150 careers in the strength America’s top employers are looking for.”

The family scenes are still out there, but now they’re on the newly overhauled http://www.goarmy.com, which launches with an opening video showing a stack of infantrymen in a smoky alleyway and ends with an invitation to “click on any video” to see other career choices, none of which is combat arms.

“People already know about the infantry, but they don’t necessarily understand the rest of the Army. This is an opportunity to give them a look at our other careers,” said Accessions Command spokesman Lt. Col. Dan Lee, who said the fact that the Army is at war is also represented in the new ads.

The Army exceeded its December recruiting mission for all three components, but that wasn’t the case last summer, when, for two months, the active component missed recruiting goals.

The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have hurt recruiting, but Army leaders also point to a shrinking pool of people between the ages of 17 and 24 who meet Army standards and a robust civilian job market as key reasons enlisting new soldiers has been tough.

The Army is in the process of producing dozens more videos for the Web site because, Lee said, focus groups with high school and college students revealed that 18- to 24-year-olds generally prefer watching videos to reading a wall of text.

That led to the video-rich content now on the site, presented in a horizontal column of streaming thumbnails that pop up on a rollover of the cursor and play as full videos on the main screen with a click of the mouse.

Other tabs offer more videos on basic training, what it’s like being a soldier, weapons and technology, and the Army’s components. One tab is specifically for parents.

At the end of each video, the viewer is prompted to click on another box for additional information on related topics and jobs.

The new commercials and Web site content were produced by advertising giant McCann Erickson, which created Army Strong on an initial two-year, $200 million contract.

The Army has the option of renewing that contract on a year-to-year basis for the next three years for a $1 billion price tag over five years.

“The Army is not taking any steps to re-compete that contract, so I’m confident it will be renewed for at least one year,” Lee said.

Active duty, Reserve and National Guard soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Drum, N.Y.; and Austin, Texas, are featured in the new 30-second ads.

One of the ads shows people in civilian clothes at their workplaces, talking about their experiences as soldiers in Iraq, about what the Army has done for them and how it has made them strong.

The Army, they say, taught them how to be team players, how to be decisive, to be a leader, to be strong mentally, physically and emotionally.

Another ad says the Army provides skills to build a better future through training that “takes you to your strongest point.” None of the ads mention money for college.

In the ad aimed at potential reservists, the message stresses the chance to “serve your community one day and your country the next.”

“The purpose of the commercials is to drive people to go to the Web site and get them interested in the Army through that medium,” Lee said.

DISCUSS: Will this be an effective campaign?