Marketing Audit: US Navy Recruiting District Los Angeles

Organization Overview and Mission

US Navy Recruiting District, Los Angeles [address redacted].

The mission of Navy Recruiting District Los Angeles is to recruit high-quality men and women for enlisted and officer programs to meet the Navy's quantitative and program needs as specified by the Navy Personnel Command. Recruiting goals must be achieved with integrity, and all personnel must be trained to accomplish these goals.

Navy Recruiting District Los Angeles is tasked with recruiting between 2,500 and 3,000 men and women each year. Each recruit must meet specific standards for enlistment or commissioning in the Navy.

The primary service provided is counseling and recruitment for the U.S. Navy.

The U.S. Navy competes with the other branches of the armed services, including the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Marines. The Navy centers its messaging on the idea of accelerating personal and professional life toward critical new goals. The table below summarizes the unique value propositions of each competing branch:

In the case of the U.S. Navy, the primary customer is the Department of Defense, which requires recruits across all armed forces. For the U.S. Navy specifically, the need for sailors, technicians, and supply chain personnel is critical for maintaining operational readiness.

Products, Services, and Target Markets

The desired result of the U.S. Navy's recruitment efforts is to fill high-demand positions within this branch of the armed services. Through its national website and extensive use of multimedia, the Navy focuses on enticing recruits into high-profile and rewarding careers while emphasizing the following difficult-to-fill positions:

Each of these positions is marketed with a distinct value proposition:

The U.S. Navy recruits from three distinct markets to fill positions for enlisted personnel, officers, and re-enlisting veterans:

The positions and markets are very well aligned, and there are many incentives in place to recruit those in greatest demand throughout the U.S. Navy. This is especially true in nursing and medical fields, where there is an acute shortage across all armed forces.

None of these product or service areas can or should be phased out, given the acute need for each specific support and recruitment segment. In fact, each area needs to be augmented for the U.S. Navy to accomplish its overall recruitment objectives.

There needs to be a greater level of service specifically offered to college graduates, particularly around the ability to quickly earn a graduate degree at no cost through their service in the U.S. Navy. There also needs to be a stronger focus on life planning tools for all re-enlisting members. Finally, the many benefits available to families need to be communicated more clearly, and a Family Accelerator should be created to guide enlisted and officer-level members in gaining the maximum benefits from their service.

The U.S. Navy has an excellent mix of positions and services for the specific markets it is recruiting from. Each product or service is quite unique and takes a long-range perspective, centered on personal life planning. The Life Accelerator is an excellent tool for showing recruits the long-range implications of their commitment to the Navy and could be augmented to include family planning as well.

Overall, the U.S. Navy has an excellent product mix that works to attract, recruit, and retain key members across each position segment. Recruitment in the most highly skilled areas — particularly nurses and physicians — is the most pressing challenge and requires the greatest level of one-on-one consultation. The recruitment of naval physicians is a critical need, as evidenced by its prominent placement on the website and the frequent use of face-to-face recruiting efforts targeting physicians directly.

The U.S. Navy distributes its current set of recruitment offices across 26 American cities. The focus of each city site is on tailoring the recruitment process to regionalized needs — by both market segment and specific position opening. The Navy's sponsorship of NASCAR events and a race car to appeal to recent high school and college graduates is one example of this localized, interest-based approach. Overall, the messaging aims to appear in tune with the current interests and needs of the recruitment base.

As reflected on the Navy's national and regional recruitment websites, there is wide variation in messaging tailored to specific geographic regions. For high school graduates, college graduates, and professionals alike, a core concern is having a viable future after committing to the Navy. While the Life Accelerator is a first step, dedicated microsites for each target segment would further guide potential recruits in their decision to enlist.

There is also a critical need for an event-driven strategy aimed specifically at the high school graduate segment. This could include sponsoring extreme sports competitions and music concerts. The Navy needs to demonstrate relevance to the interests and lifestyle of high school-age recruits, as this is the largest potential market. Event-driven marketing is especially important for this group, as younger audiences are less responsive to traditional advertising vehicles such as television and print. Blogging by current Navy enlisted personnel is also important — this segment needs to hear authentic voices from recruits of comparable age.

Distribution and Delivery Strategies

For college graduates, the excitement of gaining early managerial experience, leadership training, and continued education all need to be communicated more forcefully. Blogs from college-educated recruits discussing day-to-day life in the Navy serve as an alternative distribution channel for this critical information. For college graduates who might otherwise pursue careers in private industry, first-person accounts of the intensity, challenge, and reward of Navy service are essential persuasion tools.

The most markedly different distribution approach applies to recruiting highly skilled professionals, particularly nurses and physicians. For this segment, intensive face-to-face meetings and consultation sessions are most effective. Many health professionals have already chosen careers of service and bring an altruistic outlook that aligns naturally with the Navy's mission. One-on-one discussions that align these personal values with the Navy's needs in key healthcare roles will be critical. This high-touch model is essential for success in recruiting within this highly prized skill segment.

There are several distribution methods for recruitment that could result in greater effectiveness at lower cost:

Service to customers through existing channels is sufficient, but could be significantly more effective if infused with non-traditional communication methods tailored to each recruiting segment. The central challenge is remaining as relevant as possible to each group.

The U.S. Navy must focus urgently and intensively on how to gain and sustain relevance across the high school, college, and professional segments. As this audit shows, each segment has a dramatically different set of needs. The focus on relevancy and intensity explains why extreme sports sponsorships, new band promotions, and segment-specific blogging are all critical tools. While the Navy currently delivers adequate service to customers across the three dominant segments in this audit, there is significant room to reach best practices. One notable gap is the failure to emphasize the opportunity for global travel and firsthand exposure to globalization — a dimension that Thomas Friedman (2005) extensively explores in The World Is Flat. The chance to experience the world's most remarkable and remote locations firsthand would surely appeal to many high school-age graduates.

The sales force consists of Navy recruitment officers and enlisted men and women who staff the recruiting center. Their roles vary: several focus on helping high school graduates decide which area of the Navy to enlist into, while more senior members work with local high schools, universities, and youth groups, presenting overviews of life in the U.S. Navy. Senior officers also have extensive experience working with parents of high school-age students who are interested in enlisting. There are over a dozen officers and enlisted personnel working in a recruitment development capacity at this center.

The recruitment staff is organized regionally, with all members of the visited office serving the broader metropolitan area. Within the recruiting office, there are further breakdowns by suburban and urban areas, giving each recruitment officer a specific geographic focus for their development efforts.

In interviewing each member of the recruitment team, all expressed very positive attitudes and high morale. Each recruiter sees themselves as delivering an exceptional opportunity for personal advancement and growth to new recruits. Morale is notably high given that the majority of the officers were themselves recruited at this same location years earlier — a fact that reflects strong belief in the value of Navy service.

In terms of effectiveness and ability, it is clear why the U.S. Navy selected these individuals for recruiting roles. All demonstrated excellent communication skills and positive, engaging personalities. They are effective at conveying not only their own experiences but also the broader values of the U.S. Navy and the lifetime benefits those values have produced for them personally. When asked about overcoming the concern of potential recruits regarding the war in Iraq, each recruiter noted that ships are among the safest places to serve in a conflict, protected both underwater by submarines and overhead by aircraft. They characterized the Navy's primary role in conflict as one of support and strategic planning — and handled this objection with clear confidence and practice.