he says. "Combined with a perception that Army numbers are being reduced, persuading people we offer diverse, fulfiling careers has become harder and harder."
In fact, the Army needs 15,000 soldiers and 7,000 new officers every year just to keep pace with manning requirements and replace those who leave, retire or change careers. The Army is already the UK's largest youth recruiter, but it urgently needs more if the integrity of defence is to be maintained. While Saatchi & Saatchi's multi-award winning 'Be the Best' campaign has done much to promote the Army as a career, the specific challenge of capturing potential joiners while they are interested in the Army and then holding that attention before they job hunt elsewhere has fallen to its DM agency Cramm Francis Woolf (CFW).
"From the very beginning the Army was clear about the need to develop some form of pre-eligibility scheme to deepen youngsters' affinity with it which they can carry through to when they start making career choices at 16,
says Paul Woolf, co-founder of CFW. "It's a brave decision to make, especially when this is a long-term project and there could be potential problems around the role of influencing children at a young age.
He likens the delicacy of the brief to the local pub starting to market itself to 16 year-olds - warming then up two years before they are eligible to drink. "That would be something very frowned upon,
he says. "The difference here was that this was a plan about giving people targeted information at a rational and emotional level."
Grabbing the teen market
The solution from CFW was 'Camouflage', a totally integrated mail, web and email youth communication scheme designed for children aged 13-16 to raise their enthusiasm for the Army in as participative a way as possible.
The scheme officially launched in September 2000 but the first phase of it - to capture 100,000 joiners between April 2001 and April 2002 - has only just finished. Running the scheme is direct marketing manager and ex-Gurka Major Gavin Grant (pictured).
"We knew that unless people had been a member of the Scouts or had a barracks nearby, few youngsters would have had any contact with us," says Grant. "Our own research told us there was a lack of understanding about what the Army could offer. People have their stereotypes so there was a decision paralysis we wanted to fill."
Camouflage is a 'club' (although it's a word neither the Army nor CFW like using), offering members exclusive insights into the world of the Army. Because of their age, all respondents have to reply to any communications with their parent's or guardian's signature. Once joined, all members receive information packs, a regular magazine (contracted out to Haymarket Publishing) and exclusive website access with games, puzzles and know-how. CFW was responsible for the initial recruitment mailing (left) and a three times a year mailing plan promoting so-called 'touch the green', or demonstration days, organised and fronted by Army officers.
With the recruitment phase over, results have been nothing short of militarily efficient. The Army had a small database of 6,000 names of people who had contacted it but were too young to join. All were sent the recruitment mailer, of which 4,500 (75 per cent) joined. "These were people who had raised their arms first,
admits Woolf, "but by any standards this was fantastic. The Army used to lose a lot of data about people who phoned up; now all new enquirers are recorded.
A further 7,916 enquirers who phoned the Army in 2001 were also sent the initial mailer, of which 5,663 joined - a response rate of 70 per cent.
Trials of cold lists yielded just 0.3 per cent response, which was enough to persuade Grant that field forces would distribute further DM material - mostly via school visits. These have now been responsible for 37 per cent of new joiners - of which there have now been 90,000. Significantly, 12 per cent of joiners are member-get-member replies and 11 per cent from TV and radio response ads. The fact that all these can be measured in such fine detail is, says Grant, a huge step forward in understanding how people respond to the Army. Of all members, one third are aged 14, 37 per cent are 15 and 13 per cent are aged 16, while the male to female ratio is 73:27.
"We wanted to aim more at the 13-14 year-old age bracket because we know interest in us peaks at this age - before kids' disillusionments set in,
says Grant. This objective has actually been met: half of members are 13-14. They outnumber the 15-16 year-old group because 12 year-olds (which were first included) are still in the system. And while there is a long gestation period before these children are old enough to apply to the Army's youth intake scheme, Grant is adamant he is not using data too early.
"It costs less to catch people later but these are the ages we can inspire,
he says. "Following youngsters for longer will also let us see who drops out and how people follow the scheme."
Club benefits
Every new Camouflage member receives a CFW-designed Army contact pack and during the rest of the year members receive various mailers inviting them to summer activity weekends and events. "This first phase has been recruitment-orientated,
says Grant. "Phase two will deconstruct the data gained to see who replied to the other mailers.
To those that haven't responded to competitions etc, further mailings will give them an opportunity to drop out. CFW is also adapting bespoke and regional mailers according to members' interests. To ensure this is accurate the number of Camouflage members will be capped when the 100,000 target is reached. New numbers will top up those that reach 16 and leave naturally.
The crucial mailer, however, is the CFW 'junior conversion mailing' that members receive once they hit 16. It invites them to apply to Welbeck College, the Army's sixth form residential college, and the first entry point to joining the Army. Focusing on leadership and sports skills, this is what the programme has been building up to. So far it has had 2,309 responses from a mailing of 35,000 and 550 new Welbeck starters are ex-Camouflage members.
"Nobody is recruited from direct mail alone,
says Grant, "but its place in the process is clear. People interested in the Army deserve our attention.
Camouflage is only five per cent of our recruitment budget, but it is yielding strong results."
The battle to attract new recruits might previously have been a hard one, but with effective direct marketing and loyalty initiatives that follow, the Army is proving that the field is at least becoming a level playing one.
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