{"id":40948,"date":"2019-03-28T19:22:23","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T19:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/28\/what-the-us-army-can-learn-from-the-brits-snowflake-recruiting-campaign\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:28:45","slug":"what-the-us-army-can-learn-from-the-brits-snowflake-recruiting-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/03\/28\/what-the-us-army-can-learn-from-the-brits-snowflake-recruiting-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"What the US Army can learn from the Brits\u2019 \u2018snowflake\u2019 recruiting campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. \u2015 Earlier this year, the British Army unveiled a new poster recruiting campaign<\/a> targeted straight at millennials and Generation Z: Glued to your phone, obsessed with posting selfies, easily offended? You\u2019re what we\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images elicited snickers and groans from salty Americans and Britons alike, but it turns out they were part of an ongoing marketing effort<\/a> that has been paying dividends for the United Kingdom, according to that country\u2019s director of operations for Army Recruiting and Initial Training Command<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The applications to join the Army as a regular soldier are on a rising trend, as a consequence of that campaign \u2014 much to the dismay, I have to say, of many dissenters out there \u2015 members of the public, media, veterans, who say, \u2018This is no way to recruit for the Army,’ ” Brigadier David Colthup said Tuesday at AUSA\u2019s Global Force Symposium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their statistics show that over the previous few years, applications have jumped in the tens of thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBelonging to something that is bigger than you, but that will accept you for you, was really resonating with the target audience that we\u2019ve been trying to appeal to,\u201d Colthup said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea began in 2016, with the British Army facing a manning shortfall of about 5,000 soldiers and multiple years of missed recruiting goals. Like in the U.S., a dwindling veteran population, a low unemployment rate and a rise in obesity rates were thought to be hamstringing their efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teamed with a private marketing firm, a plan coalesced around the idea of belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActually, soldiers who serve for that sense of belonging, being together, that common purpose is really, really important,\u201d Colthup said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every January for the past three years, another phase of the campaign has rolled out. It started with \u201cfinding a place” in 2017, Colthup said, followed by \u201cmaking that theme attainable,\u201d he added, which \u201cwas at that time, quite controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2019 effort strings \u201cthe last two years together, built upon them, so that because of belonging, someone like me \u2014 someone like them \u2014 can do something that really matters,\u201d Colthup said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, they set out to bust some myths about serving, showing soldiers goofing off during training, socializing in their civilian clothes, practicing their faiths or expressing emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colthup showed a marketing video to an audience Tuesday, and U.S. Army Recruiting Command\u2019s Maj. Gen. Frank Muth reacted immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI personally want to include \u2014 because you saw that on the UK video, and I thought that was great \u2014 if I can advocate, I haven\u2019t seen a commercial that had a soldier in civilian clothes, I think, since like 1979,\u201d Muth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army commercials tend to show a lot about soldier jobs, but almost nothing about the lifestyle that goes along with service, which is a defining part of life in the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause we never show soldiers off duty. And we never show soldiers having families,\u201d Muth said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll tell you, some of the misperceptions among the Z Generation are, \u2018Can we own a dog? Are we allowed to own a car? Do we always live in the barracks? Am I allowed to get married? Can I have children?\u2019 And we don\u2019t necessarily convey that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWarriors Wanted\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Army itself unveiled a new recruiting campaign last fall, with four commercials touting the new Warriors Wanted slogan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The imagery is combat arms heavy, per Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you up to the task, are you to the challenge?\u201d Muth said, describing the message. \u201cA lot of recruiters will tell you \u2014 out of places like Chicago, Baltimore, New York, Boston \u2014 they don\u2019t resonate in the cities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t