Persuade the ultra-difficult 16-21 year old target group to consider the ultra-complicated issue of making the Army their career choice at an ultra-difficult period, when the Army is involved in two bloody conflicts.Our insight was to engage the target in a dialogue, entering their world instead of asking them to enter ours. We wanted to make them realise that the sort of skills they were already using to play computer games weren’t a million miles away from the skills required to be a soldier.Our client recognised that this was the most appropriate way to approach this young and elusive target, understanding that such contact would be helpful, even where a participant decided not to join up, in terms of peer group understanding.

We created Start Thinking Soldier – a fully-integrated campaign based around the type of gaming concept our audience enjoyed.Teaser TV, press, ambient, radio, online activity and a four-commercial TV campaign drove viewers online, by setting up a dilemma in a realistic Army operation. It put the viewer in soldier’s boots and asked them: ‘What would you do?’ The only way to find out the answer was to go to the Start Thinking Soldier website. Once there, the correct solution unlocked more levels to the mission. Now, the user took control. Moving seamlessly between gaming and real footage, would-be recruits were put through a series of challenges and the best competitors were invited to meet the army and compete for real.

The strength of the creative execution was in its impact (just like the real thing), its authenticity (all the soldiers involved are real ones) and its seamless integration.

The integrated campaign achieved the highest public awareness for Army advertising for many years. Over one million unique site visitors averaged over 10 minutes per visit with very low bounce rates (below 2%). A substantial proportion stayed with the programme through all four stages. The Army filled its recruitment target for the first time in a decade, with better quality recruits than before