The work with the Swedish Armed Forces is one of DDBs longest and greatest success stories.
As the advertising account grew to make DDB the main digital agency, we could embrace the overall strategy of opening up the armed forces to society and people to attract a more diverse set of people, improve and shift the profile of recruits towards and improve the efficiency of the recruitment processes - supported by edgy brand building initiatives with a direct connection to the overall goals, as well as working with multiple parts of the Armed Forces to create new processes and tools.
The work was based on close collaboration between the marketing and digital teams on both DDB and the Armed Forces - with a focus on openness and decisiveness.
As we worked long term with a constant strategy, were able to truly understand the core challenges and find the right solutions As Digital Director, I worked with multiple teams of UX, UI designers, developers, Art Directors and copywriters to identity opportunities, connecting the dots over time as well as making sure it all comes together as a working ecosystem - from concept to digital services and social media.
Here is a selection from the many initiatives worked on.
The Job Bot connection
Problem: People think that the armed forces is only for tough guys - on top of that is was hard to know what opportunities actually exist in the Armed Forces.
Solution: ”Befattningsguiden” – a service and guide on the armed forces recruitment web site that lets you discover current jobs in the armed forces based on your skills and personality according to strength, technical/problem solving, multitasking, and resilience to stress - a principle designed in collaboration with Armed Forces specialists. To engage the audience we designed and built a physical machine - actuelly a suite of machines - that lets you test each of these in a fun whay - and direcly connect to the job matching service and get in instant suggestion for an open position.
A job interview like any other. Almost.
Problem. It’s hard to know what it is really like working in the armed forces, and most young people struggle to see themselves being a part of it.
Solution: A digital platform for letting people talk live to soldiers and others in the armed forces - in the actual places of work - even under water. And a chance to find and talk to Armed Forces personel from all walks of life.
Army fitness for real
Problem: The drop out rate in base military training is too high because recruits are not properly fit. And the long term average fitness status of Armed Forces had declined.
Solution: A digital fitness concept based on top shelf physical fitness expertise and principles, open for both public and for the Armed Forces personell. This idea had the added value of making the Armed Forces relevant for anyone in an area that is not controversial - a way to give something back to society.
Opening up for a new audience
Problem: With a more fragmented media environment, it is hard to reach the ”YouTube” generation - and even get a chance to explain what the Armed Forces actuelly does. Existing content on the armed forces web site is factual, but not exciting.
Solution: A mobile friendly video content tool thaat combines 100s of small content pieces for bite sized consumption, providing easy to digest first tastes of the diversity that is life in the Armed Forces. With the added twist of a navigation method that will generate content to the exact time you want to spend - down to the second.
