What’s happened?
The NZ Police Force set themselves a high bar for engagement in 2017, with ‘The World’s Most Entertaining Recruitment Video’ delivering 90m+ views and peak recruit numbers. The 2018 campaign has just gone live, aiming to remove barriers by answering the most common recruit questions with a dose of Kiwi humour. It’s supported by a ‘chatcops’ platform, for access to a broader range of answers from real-life members of the force. Another recent initiative was the Koru-inspired transformation from ‘Police’ to ‘Pirihimana’ car, to coincide with Maori language week. The community responded with their own homemade versions of the car – both real life and a Grand Theft Auto avatar. It was an innovative, ground up approach, driving engagement with a community over represented in the legal system and supporting the 11% of officers who identify as Maori.
The Media Store Take
For a small country, NZ punches above their weight creatively, not just on the rugby field. Air New Zealand’s 2009 ‘most epic safety video ever’ set a new standard for inflight branded video and the latest NZ Lynx campaign is both unconventional and hilarious. NZ Police exemplifies factors that Interbrand’s Best Global Brands report identifies as being critical to brand strength – relevance, responsiveness, authenticity, presence, and engagement. They are literally bringing the voice of the people into the brand with the Pirihimana car and the recruitment campaign is proof that creativity and utility aren’t mutually exclusive. Kudos to our frenemies across the ditch.
Eva Coulam