A overlooked flaw in recruiting posters and videos.

[AngelWings]

I think I see why most posters are not appealing to a few spectrums of people:

They're not graphically catching. Compare popular military billboards and commercials, there is an energy to them. They're graphically catching to the younger generations. They have either a subdued appearence or a magnificent symphony of colors pertaining to the service, such as the Marines with the inclusion of red and the USAF with blue.

The pictures taken are not photoshopped to perfection and however true they represent the program, they're not appealing. We have a program with diverse people, of all ages and creeds, but we should focus on capitalizing on the perfect image for a recruiting poster or video. I've seen many squadrons run sloppy and have sloppy looking cadets and seniors; that hurts our image when record or take pictures of that to use for recruiting. Units need to work on making the appearence of real airmen, not little kids and balding fat and fuzzies marching in a field.

We need to have the dramatic camera shots. Ever watch Top Gun? The movie itself was made with real Top Gun and Navy consultants. It is relatively accurate but is semi unrealistic at the same time. Ever watch a military recruiting add? Relatively accurate but semi unrealistic. Who's ever watched Marines spin rifles on top of a rock in the best looking dress uniform of all time? Not me. Who's ever felt the dramatic rush of living a regular military life? Not anyone I know.

Time is important to people. Long videos to watch are annoying when you have not too much interest in a program. You have to hook in your audience before you give them a 3-6 minute long introductory video. Once you go past 45-60 seconds, you're losing your audience. A picture with too many words on it goes past the point of a recruiting picture. Limiting excess information is crucial to the hook.

Following along with the last thing I said, a big bang needs to be hit. You need to make people get thinking. Every poster/video has some cliche question or phrase on it. It's not enough to get someone to really ask. Think about a phrase that gets gears turning in someones head.

Don't rush the process. Recruiting material that is available until you make your own. You'll waste a lot of time if you do so by making a horrible product.

Color schemes are everything. Make an appealing color scheme within professional guidelines. The red, white, and blue on the current recruiting pamplets are UGLY! The USAF ones have those cool images and semi dark blue and silver scheme. It looks attractive!

Do not go too crazy or extreme on one side of CAP. We have a BA cadet program like no other, we have an awesome ES program, and we have a high aiming AE program. Don't underestimate one part of the program. I'd say a well rounded image of our entire program goes a lot further than one portion for a whole video.

Right now, if you have even HALF of the space I've filled up writing this, you've gone way too far on the information. Imagine how you feel reading this, it's long, and intentionally so. THIS IS ANNOYING TO THE GENERAL ON LOOKER. LIMIT INFORMATION UNTIL YOU'VE HOOKED THEM IN!

*All of this is based on my personal experience and a poll I did with a bunch of my friends and their friends. Everyone leans more towards the high speed, low drag videos or posters. I studied a few military ads and a few PA articles on making interesting ads, and compiled everything I read and learned into this article. It's not me making anything up.*

[Extremepredjudice]

All of this is based on my personal experience

Anecdotal. A.K.A. worthless.

a poll I did with a bunch of my friends and their friends.

In order to judge the scientific worth of your survey, we need to know how many people, their background, etc. So right now, this is worthless.

It's not me making anything up

Without credible sources it is you making stuff up. Anecdotal evidence and poll of MAYBE 25 people isn't impressive.

[ColonelJack]

All of this is based on my personal experience

Anecdotal. A.K.A. worthless.

a poll I did with a bunch of my friends and their friends.

In order to judge the scientific worth of your survey, we need to know how many people, their background, etc. So right now, this is worthless.

It's not me making anything up

Without credible sources it is you making stuff up. Anecdotal evidence and poll of MAYBE 25 people isn't impressive.

"Don't mince words, Bones.  What do you really think?" - Adm. James T. Kirk, Star Trek II



Jack

[BillB]

If you're going to get recruiting posters, what audience are you trying to reach? And in what part of the country? Are you trying to recruit pilots? Teachers? Cadets? Are you going to use Hawk photos to show the cadet program which is not representive of most of the country?
It's hard to make a generic recruiting poster, moreso since the missions of CAP are in some aspects in limbo. How much of the military aspect of CAP are you going to indicate? This varies from Wing to Wing, Squadron to Squadron. SAR is the same. Many Squadrons haven't done a reach air search in a year or more. Why put emphasis on flying if the Squadron has no corporate aircraft.
Basically you need several posters to match the audience you are trying to reach. Big difference between a poster for a civic club or a PTA meeting or a school presentation. Many of the old CAP psosters were generic enough to meet several audiences, but in any case you need to have a poster that matches your Squadrons activity or needs.

[NIN]

Remember: the USAF and the other services have MULTI-million dollar recruiting budgets.  Their recruiting budgets are probably 10x what CAP's national budget it.  Heck, I bet the cost to run the Thunderbirds (recruiting) alone is 10x what CAP's budget is.

So they can afford things like: Slick printing, designers who know what they're doing, actual photo shoots, marketing professionals to tailor the message, ancillary services like web-based campaigns that tie into print, print that ties into TV, TV that ties into the web, focus groups, surveys, legitimate data-driven statistics, support to local markets and units, etc.  Heck, have you ever seen CAP trying to track the efficacy of its advertising campaigns more than just, say, "How did you hear about CAP" on the membership form?

There are photographers in CAP who can and do take excellent photos with impact. Photos that, when paired with the appropriate message, will serve to drive the advertising/recruiting message forward.  I'm not talking the snappies that people take and post of FB, but legit "marketing-style" photography.  The USAF has _legions_ of folks doing this ("Public Affairs", just look in the af.mil image gallery), and they somehow manage to a) maintain excellent standards; b) publish several/dozens of photos a day; and c) make this imagery available to the field.

(not sure if you can see this, but the link is to the Facebook page for Andy Welsh, a CAP member from the Rochester, NY area and a very old friend who is a photographer of some skill and repute.  Andy does a lot of portraiture, wedding and senior photos, but when he goes to encampment, he brings _all_ of his goodies with him. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151007572067336.424493.539557335&type=3   His photography is excellent, but beyond Facebook, where can Andy contribute to the National recruiting/advertising mission and allow his skills to drive the CAP PA mission forward nationally?  Here's his website, if you're interested in how good a photog Andy is: http://awelshphotography.com/  No endorsement implied, unless, of course, you're in the greater Rochester area...)

[Flying Pig]

Dont get mad when I say this, remember I was in CAP 20yrs.  But a CAP recruiting billboard or poster that is on the same level as a military service recruiting in CAP is only going to look so awesome to a point where you are going to start embellishing A LOT.

And you have to think, "Is the money we are going to dump into this going to be worth the return?"  My thought is probably not.  CAP units vary greatly just between units in the same Group.   So they would have to be generic enough to apply to everyone.

I have a guy I work for who does aviation camps for youth over the summer and he spends THOUSANDS of dollars just locally on advertising.   And his message is pretty specific. 

[Walkman]

(22 years in the advertising industry as a creative speaking here)

You're pretty much spot on with your thoughts. I really don't love the posters that are available. I've often thought about getting off my high horse and doing some pro-bono, but I keep running into time issues. With a full-time job plus freelance, plus squadron duties, church, scouts and family, I barely have enough time to get 5 hours of sleep a night anyway. I don't do any pro-bono design work anymore, because it always gets pushed back by paying clients with deadlines it's not fair to the pro-bono client.

That being said, posters and videos are only individual tools in the marketing tool box, and there's two groups that need to use different tools. At the national level, the right tools are those that contribute to a general brand awareness campaign. Billboards, online videos, print ads, etc. At the unit level, a good PAO is worth more than 500 posters. Locally, an active PAO sets a foundation of brand awareness in the public, add to that an active, healthy program that gets out into the community, solid individual word-of-mouth, smart use of social media, and things like open houses and you've got a winning strategy for recruiting.

[RADIOMAN015]

Comments below:

(22 years in the advertising industry as a creative speaking here)

You're pretty much spot on with your thoughts. I really don't love the posters that are available. I've often thought about getting off my high horse and doing some pro-bono, but I keep running into time issues. With a full-time job plus freelance, plus squadron duties, church, scouts and family, I barely have enough time to get 5 hours of sleep a night anyway. I don't do any pro-bono design work anymore, because it always gets pushed back by paying clients with deadlines it's not fair to the pro-bono client.

COMMENT:   There's quite a few adult members in your exact/or close to your circumstances, they have only so much time they can give to a particular program they volunteer for whether its' CAP or another volunteer organization.   


That being said, posters and videos are only individual tools in the marketing tool box, and there's two groups that need to use different tools. At the national level, the right tools are those that contribute to a general brand awareness campaign. Billboards, online videos, print ads, etc. At the unit level, a good PAO is worth more than 500 posters. Locally, an active PAO sets a foundation of brand awareness in the public, add to that an active, healthy program that gets out into the community, solid individual word-of-mouth, smart use of social media, and things like open houses and you've got a winning strategy for recruiting.

COMMENT:  Well it's also interesting to see in your signature block that you aren't involved in the unit PAO function.  That's fine with me because it gets "old" for a member to volunteer to do the same thing they do all day long at their paying job.    Volunteering for something different allows members to be refreshed while contributing to the organization.

National can write all the regulations they want, but it really gets down to what the volunteer has the time available and skills/aptitude to accomplish at the local level.

RM

[Walkman]

COMMENT:  Well it's also interesting to see in your signature block that you aren't involved in the unit PAO function.  That's fine with me because it gets "old" for a member to volunteer to do the same thing they do all day long at their paying job.    Volunteering for something different allows members to be refreshed while contributing to the organization.
RM

Hit it right on the head. My last unit I was a very successful PAO, but I was burning out. ES was the main reason I joined, so I made the choice in my new unit to move to a different specialty track.