Royal Navy relaunches website to boost recruitment

by Charlie McCathie, Brand Republic 30-Jan-07, 15:25

LONDON - Twentysix London has revamped the Royal Navy recruitment website to introduce Web 2.0 features in an attempt to capture the 16- to 24-year-old market.

Digital creatives have used real-life video diaries, picture galleries, mobile downloads, e-cards, e-bulletins and other "next generation" technologies typically found on interactive sites such as MySpace and YouTube, in an attempt to drive recruitment.

The content-driven site focuses on "real heroes", tying in with the Royal Navy tagline "Life without limits". It is timed to coincide with an above-the-line advertising campaign developed by WCRS, shot in documentary style and featuring real staff talking about life in the Royal Navy.

Twentysix London won the COI managed account in September 2006. It recently lost five members of staff to Claydon Heeley, including Maxene Gregson, the digital creative director who was involved in the pitch for the Royal Navy account.

A spokesperson from the Directorate of Naval Recruiting said: "The current recruitment campaign is a great example of full integration where one strategic idea has been effectively implemented through all channels used.

"Twentysix has done a top flight job of taking the brand proposition from the ad campaign and carrying on the story online."

Paul Coffey, client services director at twentysix London, said: "This is a fantastic account to win and to work on -- the Royal Navy has an exciting and compelling story to tell, and is willing to explore every digital channel in order to tell it.

"The Royal Navy may be a traditional brand with a long history but this new treatment brings it bang up-to-date and makes it relevant to today's generation.

"We've developed a number of sites for bands such as Razorlight and Kaiser Chiefs, and our targeting youth audiences was invaluable in creating the Royal Navy recruitment site."