MARCOM CASE STUDY:
MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT
BLUE PATH RECRUITING CAMPAIGN

Memphis Police Department (via HRO Partners, Inc.) engaged Morris Marketing Group to develop and implement a comprehensive and engaging marketing campaign to recruit high school seniors into the MPD training Public Service Technician (PST) pipeline to specifically address a shortage of officers.

While we were familiar with the Memphis Police Department’s Public Service Technician program, the Blue Path initiative was a new approach to recruiting potential trainees by specifically targeting area high school seniors by offering full college tuition subsidies and other benefits. Research proved very important in this project from beginning to end.

Initial research was conducted in order to ascertain any obstacles that prospective recruits at area high schools might be facing to prevent them from being able to enroll in the program, as well as the primary channels through which they receive communications.

Primary research was carried out internally with HRO Partners personnel and City of Memphis administrative representatives to shape the strategy and communications plan for the campaign, especially with respect to deadlines with third-party organizations.

Additional, secondary research was performed online and through internal market analyses to further develop a strong basic knowledge of the potential target audience (area high school students and their parents/guardians), prospective media channels, and third-party organizations that were connected to the program.

The research performed was highly influential in shaping the planning of the communications strategy as well as the day-to-day communications strategy and tactics by helping to define the target audience and the best means of communication by which to reach them.

Research played an important role in the holistic communications plan as well as specific communications channels. The research helped to establish a timeline, better define the target audience, and outline the most effective means of communications for reaching them. Once the target audience and any associated deadlines were understood, planning was undertaken to optimize the many communication channels and efforts.

The plan was to develop a series of different communication
pieces for overall education and promotion of the Blue Path initiative to encourage participants to sign up. Specific, measurable objectives included:

1. Creating a Blue Path logo
2. Scheduling and facilitating a video and photo shoot for campaign collateral with current PSTs
3. Creating a full calendar of content for all social media channels through November 2016
4. Developing a presentation to be used at information sessions
5. Creating a variety of different pieces of marketing collateral for the program
   (business cards, pop-up banners, posters, directional signage, brochures
6. Setting up Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Gmail accounts for Blue Path and tracking engagement throughout December 31, 2016.
7. To recruit 150 new sign ups to the program

The target audience was any Memphis area high school senior on track to graduate by June 2017 who was a US citizen and a resident of Shelby County, and/or their parent/legal guardian. The program provided a paid two-year college education FREE to qualified applicants who signed up and successfully completed the program. Truly a path to become the “Best in Blue.”

The overall strategy for this project was to create awareness of the program and recruit participants to sign up. This included general communication about the opportunities provided by the Blue Path program, including a detailed timeline of strategic media communications points surrounding specifically targeted topics and deadlines.

The modest budget for the overall project was less than $7,500.

The project timeline and plan was executed as planned for the known efforts of promoting participation in the recruiting events. The flow of activities was primarily driven by deadlines for applications with associated organizations (TN Promise, area high schools).

Key tactics used were:

• Press Releases
• Media Alerts
• Direct ongoing two-way communication with media partners
• Availability for interviews
• Information Sessions
• Social Media Campaign

No significant difficulties were encountered in executing the plan and only traditional public relations tactics were utilized in this campaign. Other organizations involved, though strictly from the perspective that their proscribed deadlines impacted our timeline and plan for execution, were TN Promise and area high schools.

To evaluate the project, we measured earned media appearances, impressions, and number of participants successfully signed up for the program.

Over $103,950 in advertising equivalency was garnered for Blue Path in earned media appearances with 10.75 million impressions. More than 300 potential recruits submitted applications to participate in the program, which was double the objective, as a result of this campaign.

The measurable objectives defined in the beginning of the project were met and/or exceeded and reflected a well thought-out and implemented strategy, plan, and tactics.