Create a campaign that should make the best 18-25 yrs, men and women, consider the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) as an interesting, attractive employer and have them apply. This in spite of a 200-year lack of preference building, much due to the previous system of compulsory military service, which has resulted in, among several things, an image as a no brainer playground for people prone to bullying.

SAF need to build the brand and do tactical recruitment at the same time. The concept ‘Do you have what it takes?’ is the tool that challenges both the target groups’ preconceptions and their ego. The tone needed to be serious and make it clear that it is a serious task to be an officer. The concept delivers, both on the short term tactical level as a recruitment tool and on the long term strategic level as a brand- and preference building vehicle.

Earlier campaigns have focused more on intelligence and practical skills. This time, we added psychological tests under pressure to the challenges. Tests were developed together with psychologists from the SAF. Simultaneously released, each campaign unit was a test in itself with a challenge to solve.

The campaign website was the hub. After completing these tests, visitors were debriefed and the sometimes not obvious result was revealed. TVC’s were extracted from the website production and re-cut with new challenges. Prints/outdoor engaged the reader with complex questions and situations, radio spots tested people’s attention level, banners tested their memory/impulse control and direct marketing, combining postal and web, was a simple personality test with personal feedback to the respondents. An IRL test machine at events connected people with the web and the recruitment portal where employment opportunities could be further explored.

This is the third consecutive campaign using ’Do you have what it takes?’ As a result of the continuous integrated campaigns, the efficiency in recruitment activities have increased with over 300%.

This campaign generated over 200.000 unique visitors to the campaign test site, where each visitor spent over 10 minutes in average! 14.400 direct mails were sent out to targeted individuals. 10.456 of them replied through the special DM website, which gave a response rate of mind blowing 72,6%! The buzz travelled through blogs, communities and social media sites, and the campaign became prime time news on national television. The target for the number of applications was once again reached and the applicants were better than ever.