Focus On:  Military Promotions
Marketing Toward the Officers of Tomorrow

     For every high school student, there are two things he or she can anticipate: correspondence from colleges, and direct mailings from the military promoting a branch of the armed services.
     Whether it is the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, they all make an effort to address the advantages to joining the military. With yearly recruiting goals, the various branches use a variety of mediums to reach their target audience. While only part of the overall mission, the promotional product plays an important role with helping the military accomplish its goals.
     One of the most recognizable military recruiting items is the "I Want You For The U.S. Army" poster with Uncle Sam pointing his forefinger into the soul of anyone who looks at it. While such images and slogans have been toned down over time, the message remains the same. With recruiting goals in the thousands for each branch, the military has to plan its marketing strategy carefully to attract enough recruits to meet its goals.
     Surprisingly, the military's application of promotional items is the same as any other industry. With trade shows, conventions, conferences and recruiting, distributors need only apply the same planning and execution they normally go through for a typical client. Of course, researching the needs of each military branch is required to successfully target the appropriate demographic. Each branch operates separately, which means what is good for the Navy may not be in the best interests of the Air Force.

Branching Out
     At the Air Force Recruiting Service at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, the slogan reads, "Aim High Air Force." Major Derak Kaufman of the Air Force Recruiting Service says the slogan, along with an 800 number and website, are present on all the mail generated for recruitment purposes as well as web-based products, display boards and promotional items the Air Force uses. The 800 number puts potential recruits in touch with the Air Force Opportunity Center where they can speak directly with an Air Force recruiter, while the website informs users about the opportunities available in the Air Force.
     He says promotional products such as rulers, coffee mugs, pencils, ball caps, T-shirts and specialty items for health professionals are provided by recruiters during conferences, career days, national conventions and school visits. It is primarily the grass roots efforts of the Air Force recruiter who utilizes promotional items.
     "We have approximately 1,000 field recruiters across the country who are engaged in school visits, attendance at national conventions and participants in local activities," says Kaufman. "Another part of our awareness game plan is the Air Force Thunderbirds who perform at air shows across the country. They have their own promotional handouts available such as high-quality folders that feature team members and pictures of the lead pilots that are used for autograph seekers."
     Kaufman explains that, with recruiting goals up and the actual number of recruits down, the Air Force is taking some unusual steps to generate awareness in the marketplace. One method is television advertising, which is a first for the Air Force. To provide this service, the advertising funding rose from $17 million in '98 to $76 million for the 1999-2000 season.
     With such advertising mediums as television, radio, newspapers, direct mail and the Internet, the opportunity to incorporate promotional products into those mediums also exists. Many promotional products can be used in cross-advertising methods. For example, by calling a number on the screen and being one of the first 100 callers, the Air Force will provide a model of an F-16 fighter jet with the Air Force logo on the wings.
     Kaufman says high school students are the primary target audience for these mediums. Every high school junior and senior will receive correspondence from the Air Force, and possibly sales and promotional items before they graduate. The breakdown of advertising dollars for the Air Force includes $55 million allocated for television over two years, $5 million for sales and promotional items, $3.6 million toward newspapers and magazines, $2.4 million between banner ads and website recruiting and $1.8 million in direct mail pieces.
     "Sales and promotional items are just one element of a much larger picture of what we try to do to reach out to young people in a way that is meaningful to them," says Kaufman. "The challenge is trying to engage our audience with materials in the right mediums with the right message that gets them thinking that the Air Force is a way to success.
     "Most of our target audience moves on immediately upon graduation from high school into college," he continues. "What we want to do is let these young people know that not only is the Air Force hiring, but that the Air Force has some great opportunities. The Air Force can help them get the college education they want while they are on active duty."
     The U.S. Army promotes a similar message in its recruiting efforts. Joe Tiernan, promotional programs manager for Fort Knox, Ky.-based U.S. Army Recruiting, says the Army utilizes to such products as pens, pencils, frisbees, highlighters and lanyards. The items are popular because pens and highlighters are things people will use over a long period of time, keeping the Army message in the forefront of the recipient's mind.
     The Army's direct mail campaign has been successful in reaching goals of enlisting some 80,000 recruits. With every direct mail piece as well as promotional item, the Army imprints either Army or Army Reserve with the slogan "Be All You Can Be," along with an 800 number and website address.
     "The Army uses promotional items to reward people who recruiters have talked with at job fairs and other public events where our target market is going to be," says Tiernan. "We also include giveaways as incentives in our direct mail campaign. Mailers are sent out with a variety of promotional products printed on the card that the recipient can choose from if they mail the card back requesting information about the Army. Our direct mail campaign is very effective because recruiters are able to gauge the response."
     The Air Force has an advertising agency, which helps to test its message in focus groups throughout the country to ensure the intended message reaches its audience. When deciding on what criteria to use for choosing promotional products, the Air Force turns to an advertising council that consists of both senior officers in the advertising segment of the Air Force recruiting headquarters as well as local recruiters. The local recruiters often provide the best insight into what products are generating the most interest.
     "We look at what similar organizations and sister services are providing in terms of sales and promotional items to find what the youth of America seems to think is popular out there," says Kaufman. "Our research indicates that young people don't want to be walking billboards for the Air Force, but want items that draw attention in a subtle manner."
     Interestingly, two years ago the Air Force came out with a gold T-shirt and baseball cap, which some recruiters believed was too bold, says Kaufman. However, other recruiters felt the new look was great because the items were well received by the target audience. While it was a bold departure from the traditional Air Force dark blue T-shirt with a red, white and blue "Aim High" logo, it turned out to be effective in attracting the target audience.
     Kaufman explains that the distribution of sales and promotional items are based upon the goal for each of the 28 squadrons that blanket the United States. Each squadron recruits nearly 1,100 people per year; however, because recruiter zones vary in size, some squadrons receive more promotional products than others. For example, a recruiter who operates out of Times Square has a zone that is three square miles, as opposed to a recruiter in Montana whose zone is 64,000 square miles. The recruiter in Times Square will receive more promotional items because of the walk-in traffic attributed to the increase in people in the area. For those reasons, the Air Force has to be judicious in its distribution of promotional items.

Promotional Tours of Duty
     The promotional products venue has a variety of opportunities in the military including awards for officers, items for recruiting and products for military functions. Distributors who service the military often have success because of relationships they have created with their contacts. While military officers and personnel move around frequently, a sustained client relationship will help retain their business.
     That customer relationship certainly has paid off for Severna Park, Md.-based Quester II. Mary James, vice president of international marketing, says her father established the advertising specialty company after more than 30 years in the Foreign Service. He realized a need overseas in terms of promotional products for U.S. Embassy Marines and employees, especially in the apparel segment. The embassy officers and employees do not have Army or Navy bases to purchase items.
     "Every embassy forms its own embassy and employee associations that utilizes promotional products," says James. "The Marines who protect the embassy also need to earn money for their annual ball, so they will purchase promotional products to resell to the local residents."
     James explains that products from glassware to apparel are highly sought after, especially with the Marine logo imprinted on them. While it is unsafe in some countries to advertise American ties, items with the Marine seal are considered collectibles by the people who buy them. The staff at Quester has developed logos with the Marine seal incorporated in them as well as artwork that pertains to the country the officers are stationed in. The items are popular with local people because the imprint often includes the Marine seal and a recognizable landmark.
     "I travel internationally once or twice a year where I do a lot of research, and because I was brought up in nine different countries, I have a good idea of the various cultures," says James. "We cover the world, so what will sell in one country might not necessarily sell in another. It's difficult because a distributor has to know the climate of the locals and have a feeling of what the culture is about. For example, Europe will buy more apparel than Asia because in Asia the apparel is available at a much cheaper price, and the American market can't compete with the quality of embroidered goods from places such as Thailand."
     She says that the biggest challenges are shipping the goods overseas and collecting the money for the promotional supplies. Quester uses airfreight services to ship the majority of its overseas orders. It can be a complicated process to get the goods overseas, and as extra protection for its investment, Quester has insurance to cover the supplies in the event that they are lost or stolen. Once the goods arrive, it can take between several weeks to a few months before receiving a payment because the Embassy Marines have difficulty earning money for extra goods. A payment program often is created if they cannot pay on time.
     "We had an instance where a supplier incorrectly imprinted some coasters for an important function in Africa," explains James. "After contacting the supplier and asking them to imprint the coasters again and air freight them to the destination, the supplier refused to ship the order. Ultimately, the supplier imprinted the coasters again; however, we had to pay for the shipping out of our pocket. As it turned out, the client didn't need the coasters to put on the bottom of the glasses, but rather on the top of the bottles to keep bugs out of their drinks. It became quite a story overseas and they never forgot."
     Product satisfaction is a must for Quester's overseas clients. If James feels that a product will not work well overseas, she will advise the client against ordering it. For apparel, the climate is a major factor in deciding what garments to order. In places such as Africa, where many people do not have washing machines and dry most of their clothes outdoors, there is a tendency for tiny bugs to get inside the material. People have to excessively scrub and iron the garments to remove the bugs.
     "While in Dallas, I spend between two and three hours with one apparel supplier looking at the garments closely to determine whether they will stand up in a variety of climates," says James. "After making an assessment, I will send my customers notes on things they should avoid and things they should order."
     The military utilizes and benefits from promotional products. The challenge lies in understanding the needs of each branch, both financially and demographically. With a limited advertising budget for each branch, products must be chosen that will have a direct impact on the goals each branch is trying to achieve.