Abstract

This case is about the employer branding initiatives adopted by the US Army. Since the early 1970s, the US Army had been known for its recruitment efforts that aimed to encourage people to take up a career with it. Experts felt that it was one of the first organizations to practice employer branding more than a decade before the term ‘emplo-yer brand’ was coined. However, recruiting for the US Army became a challenge with the country engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Moreover, the recruiters also had to overcome certain misperceptions held by young Americans about considering a career in the US Army. This the US Army did by taking various initiatives that included recruitment advertising campaigns such as the ‘Army Strong’ campaign and the ‘Officership’ campaign that strove to showcase the benefits of a career with the Army. These noteworthy campaigns were supported by innovative recruitment tools such as the ‘America’s Army’ game, Virtual Army Experience, and the Army Experience Center that aimed to bridge the divide between people’s perceptions of the Army and the real experience of people actually working for the US Army. Experts felt that these campaigns and experiential marketing initiatives had led to an increase in recruitment numbers in the US Army and had also enhanced its emplo-yer brand. While some experts appreciated the US Army’s recruitment advertising camp-aigns and its use of experiential marketing as a promotion tool, these initiatives also attracted criticism from certain quarters. Critics contended that the US Army was duping young Americans with their adver-tising and recruitment tools by projecting the career in the Army as a fun-filled and thrilling experience - something that was far removed from reality.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the importance of employer branding and its relationship to the ability of an organization to attract and retain talent
• Evaluate the employer branding initiatives taken by the US Army to bridge the gap between people’s misperceptions about the US Army and the real experiences of being an Army officer
• Understand the issues and challenges in planning and implementing an employer branding initiative
• Understand how experiential marketing can be effectively used as part of an employer branding initiative
• and Explore strategies that the US Army can adopt in the future to enhance its employer brand.

Keywords

Employer branding, recruitment advertising, Brand engagement, Marketing communication, Brand marketing, Experiential marketing, Virtual Army Experience, Army Experience Center, America's Army Game, Army Strong campaign, Officership campaign, Sponsorships, Social media, Public relations, economic slowdown, US Army