Recruiting Posters, Slogans and Commercials [Merged]
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George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
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Blakey
That was a short drive home. ;D
That was a short drive home. ;D
Ok, work is over...now it is time to type.
I think some people are missing the point of my first post.
In the past Ive seen many topics spiral out of control because someone has misread a posted news article. (fair enough it happens)
All that i was simply stating is that the news source in question did not make that statement, i wasn't vouching for the media outlets credibility or fairness of issues ect. To be quite honest, i have no idea what sort of reputation the HDN has when it comes to reporting on the Canadian Military. Hopefully that cleared that up (*cough GW cough*
), I'm not much when it comes to trying to get my point across in print.
Now to the meat of the matter.
IMHO Showing "movies" at the recruiting center is besides the point, the first step is to get the people TO the recruiting center(in order to show them these new "high speed movies"). So, why not focus more attention on recruiting campaigns through TV and paper ad's?. I don't know about anyone else but the last time i saw a CF commercial...well its been a while...and it didn't exactly give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
1st edit
Think of it like fishing...you choose your lure before you even drop your line in the water and once you've caught the fish you decide how your going to fillet it. NOT the other way around.
2nd edit Id love to work for CFRG HQ designing recruiting posters, i have a little experience in that field, but alas im stuck in 031 world :'( (C'mon Image Tech OT)
Side not, spell checker going wonkey on me
I think some people are missing the point of my first post.
In the past Ive seen many topics spiral out of control because someone has misread a posted news article. (fair enough it happens)
All that i was simply stating is that the news source in question did not make that statement, i wasn't vouching for the media outlets credibility or fairness of issues ect. To be quite honest, i have no idea what sort of reputation the HDN has when it comes to reporting on the Canadian Military. Hopefully that cleared that up (*cough GW cough*
), I'm not much when it comes to trying to get my point across in print.My thoughts as well.
Now to the meat of the matter.
IMHO Showing "movies" at the recruiting center is besides the point, the first step is to get the people TO the recruiting center(in order to show them these new "high speed movies"). So, why not focus more attention on recruiting campaigns through TV and paper ad's?. I don't know about anyone else but the last time i saw a CF commercial...well its been a while...and it didn't exactly give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
I could have walked but....that 800m is just too much at my age
1st edit
Think of it like fishing...you choose your lure before you even drop your line in the water and once you've caught the fish you decide how your going to fillet it. NOT the other way around.
2nd edit Id love to work for CFRG HQ designing recruiting posters, i have a little experience in that field, but alas im stuck in 031 world :'( (C'mon Image Tech OT)
Side not, spell checker going wonkey on me
George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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- Points
- 560
Blakey said:
Good points.
Spell Check has been screwy for me today, also.
George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 97
- Points
- 560
Yeah.....I suppose, now you'll want to do the Spiderman Dance of Joy.
[EDIT]: Opps I forgot to include the ;D
[EDIT]: Opps I forgot to include the ;D
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Blakey said:
Since the movies will probably replace the current videos at the recruiting website I don't think it's totally getting the cart in front of the horse, particularly if surveys have shown a large percentage of walk-ins have previously visited the site for information.
swanita said:
These videos are but a few minutes in length and are to educate applicants about various aspects of the job. Given the amount of time available and the average viewer's attention span, what would you have them say?
The current videos and monographs do reflect some of the least appealing aspects of the job(s)
I read on a thread elsewhere that the CF received approximately 26 000 (26 thousand) applications last year for the positions available. I don't think that the organization needs to create embellished videos.
Perhaps you are confusing trade lifestyle videos with infomercials? You're reading way too much into it.
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kitrad1 said:
Not reading too much into it, i just think that maybe spending a million dollars on videos could be better spent elsewhere. Maybe in more staff to deal with the 26,000 applications you mentioned to increase processing times. Why do they need to change anything with the current videos & stuff they already have? Unless it's ghastly outdated....
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Blakey said:
Exactly. Who cares about the videos in the Recruiting Centre if nobody even knows there is a job there to begin with. You have to get people there! The only coverage that the general public receives regarding the CF is the never ending assault of negative PR the media loves to dish out about the CF and its equipment. They make it sound like a farce. You never hear about the good the CF is doing just that they bought used subs, have planes that are grounded all the time etc. etc. I think they are scaring a lot of people away & this is the biggest recruiting hurdle the CF is facing.
Their previous advertisements do nothing to attract someone who was not already considering signing up. My campus will periodically have posters on the bathroom wall but most students attitudes are "As if I would ever want to do that". In fact I have heard them joke about it a lot.
Bottom line, if I wasn't already interested in th CF, hadn't been to a couple of airshows (which are becoming a thing of the past) or had friends in the Forces, I wouldn't even know the they existed. They just aren't out there enough and when they are, their advertisements do nothing to promote the CF.
From the posts, I'm not sure what the issue is...people are concerned about spending money on videos, advertising or lack thereof?
From what I understand, more than 26 000 (26 thousand) people have applied each year for the last few years... that's about four people for every available position. To me then, the issue really isn't about getting people into the recruiting centres.
While it is important to keep the CF uppermost in the public's mind (and of course any potential applicant's mind), it is okay to spend some money and update the videos in the recruiting centres. There is no doubt that a lot of occupations have changed, as has a lot of kit and equipment. I think that the basic training video is from 1994 (I could be wrong, but I don't think so). These are the same videos that recruiters take on the road to career fairs, open houses etc.
So, we haven't seen as many ads on TV or in the paper...there are many other forms of media out there to get the message out that the CF is hiring. I would guess that there are ads in professional journals for those "hard to find" occupations.
Anyways, might as well spend it on updating videos, because if there is an election, guess what? We probably won't see any advertising as it contravenes election law (Again, I could be wrong but I don't think so).
Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing some updated videos. Maybe they'll even be posted to the recruiting website.
Just my two cents.
From what I understand, more than 26 000 (26 thousand) people have applied each year for the last few years... that's about four people for every available position. To me then, the issue really isn't about getting people into the recruiting centres.
While it is important to keep the CF uppermost in the public's mind (and of course any potential applicant's mind), it is okay to spend some money and update the videos in the recruiting centres. There is no doubt that a lot of occupations have changed, as has a lot of kit and equipment. I think that the basic training video is from 1994 (I could be wrong, but I don't think so). These are the same videos that recruiters take on the road to career fairs, open houses etc.
So, we haven't seen as many ads on TV or in the paper...there are many other forms of media out there to get the message out that the CF is hiring. I would guess that there are ads in professional journals for those "hard to find" occupations.
Anyways, might as well spend it on updating videos, because if there is an election, guess what? We probably won't see any advertising as it contravenes election law (Again, I could be wrong but I don't think so).
Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing some updated videos. Maybe they'll even be posted to the recruiting website.
Just my two cents.
Pieman
Army.ca Veteran
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Was just watching some of the videos on the recruiting website again and started thinking about this thread. Yea, the videos are not very inspiring at all.
The videos do have good information on the type of person you have to be, and what is expected of you. But does not give any kind of feel for what the trade is really like. If they do make some new videos that depict reality better, then I suspect it would have a much bigger impact on recruits when they make the decision for their trade.
Really, let's face it, $1M is not exactly a lot of money to spend on advertising at all. So now that I look at it again, I suspect producing some good in house videos would be a pretty good way to invest the money.
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Not having watched TDV at all, could there be any possibility to work that way or be inspired of it for recruiting videos?
I mean, even though I haven't watched it, I'm attracted to it and I personally think this one of the best way to promote the CF. It does a great deal of a advertising job. This is already a kind of partership, would be good to extend it. What about some demos like the Air Force or the veterans mock battles? Be it on tv or live in the field.
I mean, even though I haven't watched it, I'm attracted to it and I personally think this one of the best way to promote the CF. It does a great deal of a advertising job. This is already a kind of partership, would be good to extend it. What about some demos like the Air Force or the veterans mock battles? Be it on tv or live in the field.
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The forces are one of those things, I think either you're interested in it or you're not. I'm not so sure that advertising works as well here in Canada as it does in the states. Perhaps because of the way our socioeconomic systems work, I dunno. As an example, In my large group of friends who are mostly young (under 30) very fit (we are mostly hockey players, weight lifters, hikers etc) and well educated, not one of them is interested in the military, not one.(myself the exception of course) I sell to these guys on a constant basis, always telling them about the exciting things etc etc, but no bites. I think for the majority of forces applicants it's something they have always wanted, not something they can be persuaded to do.
Pieman
Army.ca Veteran
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Don't sell yourself short Island Rhyno. For myself, my decision to join the forces was greatly influenced by some of my University roommates, who were in the reserves while going through school. They would tell me lots of stories about the Army, and were constantly encouraging me to join saying they thought I would love it. I would not budge, my priorities were not in line with the idea of joining at the time.
I did not decide to apply to the CF until a few years later when I was finishing up graduate school. My past roomies certainly had a small part in helping that decision along as they probably seeded the idea or at least poured some water on it. So, your buddies may not be responding now...but later on the idea of joining may appeal to them. Just by talking about it, you are probably setting a few gears in motion.
Looking back, I really wish I had decided to join. I suspect that if I ran into the opportunity to join up such as a Army demonstration day or something like that, I probably would have.
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Good thoughts here.
The advertising way wouldn't do much in Canada, but the sharing of experiences from soldiers might ring some bells. This sharing, like in TDV or a demo day would have the advantage to show what's really going on in the CF, the bad and the ugly too, but point out that despite all the mud, these experiences (as shared) are worth the effort.
As for me, as a teenager, I tought about joining the reserve. Coming from a little town without CFRC or reserve unit, I forgot about it after a while (but the military in general has ever been of interest for me). At the dawn of the second Iraq conflict, international security came as an obvious subject and as a Canadian, I wanted to be a part of it. The old dreams came back in front and even though I thought about joining the reserve first, to see how that could be, I decided finally to apply for full-time.
The main point here is that the CF should just be more apparent in the canadian society and in the medias. In my mind, it's mostly a matter of education.
The advertising way wouldn't do much in Canada, but the sharing of experiences from soldiers might ring some bells. This sharing, like in TDV or a demo day would have the advantage to show what's really going on in the CF, the bad and the ugly too, but point out that despite all the mud, these experiences (as shared) are worth the effort.
As for me, as a teenager, I tought about joining the reserve. Coming from a little town without CFRC or reserve unit, I forgot about it after a while (but the military in general has ever been of interest for me). At the dawn of the second Iraq conflict, international security came as an obvious subject and as a Canadian, I wanted to be a part of it. The old dreams came back in front and even though I thought about joining the reserve first, to see how that could be, I decided finally to apply for full-time.
The main point here is that the CF should just be more apparent in the canadian society and in the medias. In my mind, it's mostly a matter of education.
