The RCMP has launched its first-ever national TV ad in an attempt to recruit millennials for the national police force.
“We wear it with pride. We wear it because it stands for justice, honour, protecting those in need. We’ve been keeping communities safe since 1873,” says the voiceover, as the spot shows RCMP officers in action.
It ends with an officer wearing the traditional red serge uniform looking into the camera and the line “A uniform with your name on it is waiting for you.”
The RCMP “has high recruitment requirements and TV is probably the fastest way to get the message out,” says Linda Perez, vice-president, managing director of Ogilvy Montreal, which created the ad and obtained the RCMP account a few months ago. “I suspect it’s because of its ability to reach everybody,” she says of the decision to go the TV route.
“There’s a lot of competition because different organizations are trying to recruit [millennials] to replace retiring baby boomers,” adds Gavin Drummond, creative director of Ogilvy Montreal. The RCMP is looking to recruit 1,000 officers this year, he says.
The 30-second spot was created using existing RCMP videos shot over the last few years, with voiceover, edit, score and sound effects added, says Drummond.
He says a decision was made to make heavy use of the red serge in the ad. “It’s probably the most famous police uniform in the world and we felt it’s kind of been co-opted by Hollywood. So it seemed like a great opportunity to reclaim a critical part of their brand identity.”
The ad has two versions, ending either with a male or female officer. Both versions tested equally well, so the RCMP decided to go with both, Drummond says.
The ad started running airing this week and is also available on YouTube. Search engine marketing is being used to drive people to the RCMP careers page where the ad is embedded.
Ogilvy Montreal did the media plan while the media buy was handled by Cossette, the federal government’s media agency.
Perez says Cossette was instructed that the target group is primarily 18-34, to avoid programming seen by a lot of children and to concentrate the buy after 9 p.m. on networks.
