Tom Wilson

RECRUITMENT POSTERS

The concept is that every Marine is made up of all the ideals, traditions, training and lessons learned.  Click to enlarge.

We commissioned an artist to create our recruitment posters. All are actually sculptures that were photographed with zero CGI.

It's not everyday your work gets put on permanent display in a museum.

BATTLES WON TV

"Anthem" translates the poster concept to TV, but through the lens of historic Marine battles.

"Battle Up" told the story of all the battles Marines face in their lives. The spot was a milestone as it was the first (and still only) commercial by any US military branch to feature a female engaged in combat.

"A Nation’s Call" was our 2018 Super Bowl spot which highlighted that a Marine’s will to win is their most important weapon.

SOCIAL

As the creative lead on the Marine Corps account, we were early adopters of special units like Facebook Canvas and Facebook Live. We utilized FB Live during the 2018 Super Bowl pregame to launch “A Nations’s Call”.

EXPERIENTIAL

The Marines were losing ground in the battle for the best and brightest college recruits so as part of the new Battles Won campaign, we created a 57ft long experiential trailer/obstacle course called the Battles Won Challenge. UWG, our partner agency, and I worked hand in hand concepting, executing and integrating the campaign seamlessly into the experience.

Click to view case study.

Visitors were given a disposable RFID wristband which recorded their time. There was leaderboard for players to compare their times. At the end of the day, the leader received a large bag of USMC swag.

DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

Gaming was our target’s second biggest hobby. So we created an experience that leveraged gamers love of upgrades and weaponry to convey the importance of Marine values and missions. Xbox used this as an example of how brands should use their platform.

MEDIA PARTNERSHIP

Sports is THE passion point for the majority of high schoolers. We partnered with Sports Illustrated to create an emotionally powerful program that connected the fighting spirit of Marines to the fighting spirit athletes have to win the battles in their daily life. 

A visualization of some of the program’s different touch points. Click to enlarge.

Highlights of the winning athletes. Grab some tissues before watching.

ACTIVATION

In addition to the SI Athlete of the Month program, we created the Semper Fi All-American Program. It celebrated and highlighted athletes who made a difference on their teams, at their school and in their community. It culminated with the Battles Won Academy, a three day leadership symposium with TEDTalks style speakers.

Day 1 included check-in, an opening ceremony and a trip to Marine Corps Base Quantico.

Day 2 included a trip to Baltimore to visit Under Armour, a talk with Cal Ripken and seeing an Orioles game at Camden Yards.

Day 3 included a quiz based scavenger hunt around the National Mall, morning workout with an Olympian and closing ceremonies.

To give people a glimpse into the Battles Won Academy experience, we streamed the closing awards ceremonies live on Facebook.