New Zealand Police: New Zealand Police

Credits & Description:

Brand NEW ZEALAND POLICE
OGILVY NEW ZEALAND Auckland, New Zealand Entrant Company
THE SWEETSHOP Auckland, New Zealand Idea Creation
THE SWEETSHOP Auckland, New Zealand Production
OGILVY NEW ZEALAND Auckland, New Zealand PR
OGILVY NEW ZEALAND Auckland, New Zealand Media Placement
Regan Grafton Ogilvy & Mather Executive Creative Director
Lisa Fedyszyn Ogilvy & Mather Group Creative Director
Jonathan McMahon Ogilvy & Mather Group Creative Director
Kent Briggs Ogilvy & Mather Creative
Sam Henderson Ogilvy & Mather Creative
Nathan Chambers Ogilvy & Mather Head of Design
Danny Carlsen Ogilvy & Mather Design Director
Dave Preece Ogilvy & Mather Design Producer
Steen Bech Ogilvy & Mather Producer
Rachel Stewart Ogilvy & Mather New Zealand Senior Producer
Martin Spencer Ogilvy & Mather Head of Post Production
Ben Marshall Ogilvy & Mather Editor
Damien Shatford The Sweet Shop Film Director
Ben Dailey The Sweet Shop Executive Producer
Fiona King The Sweet Shop Managing Director
Andrew Stroud The Sweet Shop Director of Photography
Dave Gibson The Sweet Shop Colourist
Craig Matuschka Liquid Studios Sound Design
Pete Van der Fluit Liquid Studios Music Composition
Tamara O'Neill Liquid Studios Music Producer
Wendy Schrijvers Ogilvy & Mather Executive Director
Cristina Opferkuch Ogilvy & Mather Account Service
Siobhan Burke Ogilvy & Mather New Zealand Head of Operations
Ben Fielding Ogilvy & Mather Planning Director
Denelle Joyce Ogilvy & Mather Business Director, Media
Nick Pickering Ogilvy & Mather Digital Media Manager
Karen Jones NZ Police Client
Helen Flannery NZ Police Client
Jane Archibald NZ Police Client
Senior constable Garry Boles NZ Police Media Support Officer

Synopsis
At the start of 2017 New Zealand Police was 80% white and 70% male – And as a result, the Police Commissioner admitted the police force had been influenced by unconscious bias.
In order to correct this diversity and gender imbalance, we needed to create a recruitment video to attract a more diverse range of recruits, so New Zealand could have a police force that better reflects the communities they serve.
But with a small budget, we needed to think hard how to maximise it in order to put a message out there that talked to the people of New Zealand, in a tone they would appreciate. Having the commissioner himself wouldn’t do, the public needed to hear our message from people they respect and can identify with – And who really speak to different cultures and communities.
Strategy
We wanted more women, Maori, Asian, and Pacifica recruits. But many believe that you need to be big and muscly, even male and white, to join the police. So, we used female and male officers from all ethnicities and body types, to show there’s no one type of New Zealand cop. We wanted to show people that their culture and personality was their strength - And what the people needed to see out on the streets.
We used influencers to appeal to their followers, and to show that the influencers they look up to are on board with NZ Police’s approach for a way forward.
We aimed to create a video that would be shared nationwide. This way, more potential recruits would see it, understand that a career in the New Zealand police was a possibility for them, and be encouraged to take the first step and visit newcops.co.nz
Relevancy
New Zealand Police’s 2017 recruitment film aimed to reach as many New Zealanders as possible. It ended up reaching 91.8 million people within a week of its release. That’s over 19.5 times more people than the entire population of New Zealand.
From heavy hitters such as CNN, The Guardian, USA Today, The Independent, Huffington Post, Business Insider and more, to New Zealand film stars like Russell Crowe and Sam Neill, and even police departments from around the world, were singing its praises and sharing it with their viewers and followers.
Outcome
At 4pm, November 26, 2017, the recruitment video was posted on New Zealand Police’s Facebook page. And was then shared by the video’s influencers, and NZ Police’s 12,000 employees, who became micro-influencers. Stakeholders and Partners were also encouraged to share it on social media.
Budget wouldn’t allow us to connect with the nation through paid channels, so we sent out a press release and link to news media, to achieve earned media. By 5pm, it was picked up by two of New Zealand’s major news media networks, and by 10pm, all major NZ news channels were covering it. By 10am the following day, these channels alone had delivered 1.3 million views and over 20,000 shares. In 24 hours, over $4 million worth of earned media had amassed. It then went worldwide.
Within a week it had reached 91.8 million people. It became the number 1 trending video on YouTube and Facebook. The video was prolifically shared, with many potential new cops tagged in shared posts. It was even shared by Kiwi actors, Russell Crowe and Sam Neill.
Within the first 24 hours, the Police received a month’s worth of enquiries. It saw an 898% increase of visits to newcops.co.nz and received a 31,422% return on media spend.
But most importantly it saw a 615% increase in diverse profiles created, and an intake of the largest number of female recruits, ever.
It became New Zealand Police’s most successful recruitment year on record, and to think it only launched on November 26.
Execution
With a limited budget, we put all our eggs in the production budget, to make the best video we could. But this only left us with $20K for a media spend. We believed and hoped that the content of the video would be good enough to generate its own PR.
So, with a single post on New Zealand Police’s Facebook page, to their 150,000 followers, we put the recruitment video out into the world.
We also asked the social influencers that starred in the video, as well as the Police’s 12,000 staff members, to share the video through their own social media pages – all becoming ambassadors, forming a country-wide swarm of micro-influencers. It didn’t take long for the video to be shared and spread far and wide.
Campaign Description
We knew if we were to succeed in making an impact, then we had to reach as many New Zealanders as we could. We need spokespeople that could identify with the public, but deliver our message in a way that was worth sharing and getting talked about.
Written with getting PR in mind, we used over 70 diverse, real officers, along with numerous social influencers– all while taking place during an action-packed on-foot police chase.
The police band play the live soundtrack, as our ever-changing spokesperson runs along, jumping, sliding and diving through and around various obstacles, all while talking about our need for diverse recruits.
The video has comedic elements tailored to a Kiwi brand of humour, and the cult heroes and social influencers we use, from sports stars, to radio DJs to LGBTIQ+ icons, and viral sensations, appeal to different demographics, cultures and communities.