Recruitment marketing / Hertfordshire Constabulary

Making all the right people feel special

Objective

Building on the tangible success of last year’s campaign, and taking what we learned from our research then, we wanted to make an even bigger splash. Besides increasing quality hires within a tight budget, we aimed to raise awareness of the role of Specials, promote the force as an employer, challenge perceptions that it’s all about neighbourhood policing and attract people from parts of the county that only have limited numbers of Specials.

Media

Outdoor, we ran an ATM video campaign from 2nd November 2009 to 25th January 2010. Our online offering included a social media campaign running for three months from 9th September 2009 which covered conversations in social media forums, a pay per click campaign, Facebook advertising and a viral video. All drove candidates to www.hertspolicecareers.co.uk.

Effectiveness

We certainly met our objectives:

• Applications increased by 130%; 992 applications received in total.
• 121 hires made, achieving the end of year target; a further 66 undergoing assessment.
• 35% response rate from women compared to 20% in the Special Constabulary as a whole.
• 15% from a visible minority ethnic background, against 3.5% within the Special Constabulary.
• The number of Special Constables in areas with fewer Specials increased by 56%.