Semper Fi Branding
Last week, I heard an interesting report on the radio about military recruiting statistics: While the Army struggles to find new soldiers, the Marines are doing a fine job attracting candidates.
The reporter asked a "branding expert" why this was so. The expert replied, naturally, that it's because the Marines, "have a better brand."
Marines as brand. I couldn't help but hear echoes of another specious brand incursion: Remember when the Federal Government hired an advertising expert to "sell" the "American brand" in Afghanistan? What an extraordinary message to send to a people who respect tradition and enduring values -- that America isn't about democracy, freedom or representation; it's about the brand: America, The Brand. Did anyone else feel queasy about this?
I digress -- this is about the Marines. Attributing their success to brand is both trite and misleading. The deeper, more truthful response is that the Marines are more successful recruiters because being a Marine means something. To be a Marine is to be tough. To be among a select few. To be willing to arrive at the battle first and leave last.
This is about something much more than their tagline -- The Few, The Proud, The Brave. It's about a grueling 16 week boot camp in tropical conditions and a legacy born, not in the plush offices of brand consultants, but on the shores of Tripoli and Iwo Jima, in the jungles of Guadalcanal and Vietnam. The Marines have earned their reputation through almost unthinkable sacrifice. You cannot "brand" that kind of reputation with positioning statements and clever ads.
To compete, the Army doesn't need a new brand, per se. It needs a to create a soldier in as distinctive a way as the Marines create Marines. I don't know whether that distinction is built on "training," "patriotism," or something else, but I'm convinced that it has to be deeply imbedded in the real, day to day lives of real soldiers.
If it's built on brand visions, and nothing else, Americans will quickly see the effort for what it is -- bullshit -- and ignore it.
Create a soldier. Then the recruits -- and "the brand" -- will follow.
The reporter asked a "branding expert" why this was so. The expert replied, naturally, that it's because the Marines, "have a better brand."
Marines as brand. I couldn't help but hear echoes of another specious brand incursion: Remember when the Federal Government hired an advertising expert to "sell" the "American brand" in Afghanistan? What an extraordinary message to send to a people who respect tradition and enduring values -- that America isn't about democracy, freedom or representation; it's about the brand: America, The Brand. Did anyone else feel queasy about this?
I digress -- this is about the Marines. Attributing their success to brand is both trite and misleading. The deeper, more truthful response is that the Marines are more successful recruiters because being a Marine means something. To be a Marine is to be tough. To be among a select few. To be willing to arrive at the battle first and leave last.
This is about something much more than their tagline -- The Few, The Proud, The Brave. It's about a grueling 16 week boot camp in tropical conditions and a legacy born, not in the plush offices of brand consultants, but on the shores of Tripoli and Iwo Jima, in the jungles of Guadalcanal and Vietnam. The Marines have earned their reputation through almost unthinkable sacrifice. You cannot "brand" that kind of reputation with positioning statements and clever ads.
To compete, the Army doesn't need a new brand, per se. It needs a to create a soldier in as distinctive a way as the Marines create Marines. I don't know whether that distinction is built on "training," "patriotism," or something else, but I'm convinced that it has to be deeply imbedded in the real, day to day lives of real soldiers.
If it's built on brand visions, and nothing else, Americans will quickly see the effort for what it is -- bullshit -- and ignore it.
Create a soldier. Then the recruits -- and "the brand" -- will follow.
2 Comments:
Aloha Jonathan,
Damn good post! And you are right.
Marine is a title. Soldier is a noun.
Semper fi,
Jason Cain
Sgt (vet) 1st MEB
(Disclaimer premise: I am grateful to, and passionately support, all our fighting forces overseas. Nothing that follows should be taken as disrespect toward them or the various service branches.)
Jonathan, not sure I agree.
For example, let's say for a moment that both the Marines and the Army produce competent, brave, well-trained and motivated fighting men and women.
There might be some slight differences, but in the end, not a whole lot.
The Marines have done a better job at creating a myth, or legend — or brand....something that excites the romantic warrior imagination of young boys — the "target market."
Love that ad campaign: the few, the proud, the Marines.
Love that tag line: semper fi
Love that brand!
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