GOLD

Client: Canadian Forces Recruiting Group, Borden, Ont.

Campaign: DND Online Recruiting

Agency: Interactive Marketing Concepts, Toronto

Creative Director: Ernest Guevara

Copywriters: Joanna Medina and client-side team

Art Directors: Ernest Guevara and Wylie Ford

Illustrators: Ernest Guevara and Wylie Ford

The Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre (CFRC) wanted to increase the number of applicants to the Department of National Defence (DND) by 300% over the previous year, which would bring the number of applicants from 3,000 to 9,000.

The challenge was getting young people (target 14 to 22) to apply for military service, when most are unaware of the diversity of career opportunities in the forces. The existing Web site, based on the government’s Web site model, had a very low conversion rate. It was decided that the site, which, for example, had a home button that took visitors back to the DND site, not the CFRC home, and which ‘told’ of opportunities rather than engaged the user, did not appeal to today’s youth or convey excitement.

A new Web site, geared to young and energetic go-getters, was developed. Data analysis determined that site visitors had been most likely to show interest in ‘romantic’ occupations like fighter pilot, which is very difficult to qualify for, and had no notion of the many other, perhaps more suitable, opportunities.

The new user-friendly site included a ‘Career Chooser’: a survey tool that enabled candidates to select things they liked and disliked doing and then matched their preferences to potential careers in the forces. The survey results gave the CFRC much useful information about its potential candidates, and when visitors were presented with the best-matched careers and examined them, they were much more likely to go to ‘Apply now.’

Indeed, the campaign generated more applicants than the DND is able to recruit by over 200%, while reducing customer acquisition cost by 86%.

SILVER

Molson Canada, Toronto, for its ‘The Molson Canadian Intimid’Ehtor’ campaign, developed by ninedots, Toronto

MERIT

Pepsi-Cola Canada, Mississauga, Ont., for its ‘Pepsi Taste Tour 2002′ campaign,

created by Proximity Canada, Toronto