NZ Police’s thought-provoking recruitment campaign via Ogilvy & Mather NZ goes global

Would you walk past or stop to help? A young boy foraging for food in a central city rubbish bin has captured the hearts and minds of millions of viewers around the world in a new recruitment drive campaign for the New Zealand Police, created by Ogilvy & Mather New Zealand.

A series of five videos featuring real-life scenarios have been captured exploring issues police officers deal with daily including alcohol-related incidents, mental health, at risk youth and safety on our roads.

VIEW THE HUNGRY BOY VIDEO

VIEW THE HUNGRY BOY 2 VIDEO

VIEW THE COLLAPSED MAN VIDEO

In the first video a young actor in a busy city street is seen eating out of a rubbish bin. The video has now reached more than three million Facebook feeds, received more than 800,000 views and more than 30,000 likes, shares and comments since launch along with media coverage in New Zealand and as far afield as Spain, China, USA, UK and Ireland.

Says Regan Grafton, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather NZ: “10 years ago an elderly man was beaten and left lying unconscious on the pavement in an inner city carpark however, this wasn’t the disturbing part of the story. The disturbing part was that it took three days before someone cared enough to check to see if he was OK. That story upset me because I couldn’t believe this could happen in our country.

“So, with this in mind, we devised a campaign idea that would do two things: attract the right kind of people into the NZ Police and hopefully, remind everyone of the importance of a sense of community and of caring for each other.”

The second video in the series launched last night, with an equally compelling scenario featuring a man collapsing on the sidewalk of a main road in Auckland. Again, dozens of pedestrians pass and even walk on the road to avoid him before two men stop and show concern for his wellbeing.

Says Karen Jones, deputy chief executive: public affairs, NZ Police: “The approach we have taken is new and different and links strongly with our Police value of empathy.

“It helps us tell a compelling story about the special type of person who chooses to be a police officer. And at the same time reach out to like-minded people in the community to join us.”

Deployed online and via social media, then by more traditional media over the coming months, the campaign is aimed at 18-29 year olds, in particular Maori, Pasifika, Chinese, Indian, Latin American, African and Middle Eastern people to better represent the diversity of Kiwi communities. Attracting more female recruits is another objective of the campaign.

Visit the website: www.newcops.co.nz.

Client: NZ Police

Senior Digital Producer: Linda Krug