Phoenix Police Department

Integrated Recruitment Campaign

ASSESS

The city of Phoenix, Arizona has experienced unprecedented growth in the last few years and the Police Department needed a recruiting strategy that could keep up. In June 2007, Bernard Hodes Group was contracted to attract, hire, and retain 1,000 new officers in just three years.

STRATEGIZE

The Phoenix PD needed assistance developing and implementing the right strategy to grow the agency and reflect the diversity within the growing communities. In addition, the department did not have measurement tools in place to provide concrete tracking mechanisms on successful advertising vehicles, making it more difficult to be 100% accountable for their budget and recruitment goals.

Hodes sought to develop a campaign to target a large audience, comprised of 20 to 35 year old males and females, transitioning military personnel and lateral officers from other states. It was also important to build brand awareness in the local and national markets through a targeted campaign.

IMPLEMENT

Hodes conducted research and utilized the information to develop a media plan, creative strategy, message platform and marketing plan. The PHX-PD brand was developed to distinguish the Phoenix PD from all other agencies. Hodes then created campaigns with the PHX-PD brand targeting key demographics in all media, including billboards, brochures, business cards, local and out-of-state events, Internet banner ads, print, television and radio.

MEASURE

As the campaign launched, it received news coverage from local television outlets and newspapers, as well as online sources. The strong employer brand resulted in a 25% increase in monthly applicants as well as more qualified applicants. Phoenix police hires increased 58% over the previous year. In fact, the recruitment efforts were so successful, the department needed to add an additional academy class per month to help train the recruits. Finally, PHX-PD implemented a tracking mechanism to identify and improve ROI, enabling the department to maximize their budget and recruitment efforts as the campaign continues. For their efforts, Hodes and PHX-PD were honored with the Measurement of Recruiting Effectiveness (M.O.R.E.) Award at the 2008 Creative Excellence Awards.