Title | BOOT POLISH |
Brand | THE BRITISH ARMY |
Product/Service | THE BRITISH ARMY |
Category |
F01. PROMOTIONAL ITEM DESIGN & PHYSICAL BRAND COMMUNICATION |
Entrant Company
|
JWT LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Advertising Agency
|
JWT LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Credits
Russell Ramsey |
JWT London |
Executive Creative Director |
Adam Scholes |
JWT London |
Creative Director |
Chris Jones |
JWT London |
Senior Art Director |
Kell Lunam/Cowan |
JWT London |
Senior Copywriter |
Chris Hutton |
JWT London |
Designer |
Nick Manson |
JWT London |
Production |
Brief Explanation
When graduates are handed leaflets and flyers at recruitment fairs, they’ll smile politely before dropping them in the nearest bin – so we needed to create something that the recipient would want to keep. From a copy perspective, the overall size of the final piece meant that copy had to be tight and straight to the point. Finally, whatever we created, had to be relevant and fit in with the rest of the campaign – one which compared the excitement of life as an Army Officer with the mundanity of a typical, civilian career.
The Brief
The brief from the client was to highlight that a career as an Army Officer is ‘A life less ordinary’. By focusing on the boots that Officers wear – and the need to take care of them following typical training exercises – we were able to highlight the exciting life led by Army Officers.
How the final design was conceived
Because the final piece was a tin of boot polish, we wanted it to feel genuine. With carefully selected typefaces and design cues, this became less a pure communication piece and more a packaging design brief.
Upon first contact with the tin, potential recruits were hard-pushed to spot that this wasn’t something they could buy in their local supermarket.
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market
With a single search term as the call to action for all Army collateral, it’s hard to gauge which part of the campaign directed potential recruits to the website. However, as the polish tins were given out face-to-face, feedback from events has proven very positive – and we’ve seen an overall increase in people using the search term.