MARKETING THE MILITARY: EVALUATING THE
MOTIVATIONAL APPEALS OF RECRUITMENT SLOGANS
Sylvia A. Miller, Cameron University
M. Suzanne Clinton, Cameron University
John Camey, University of Central Oklahoma
ABSTRACT
For approximately a century, the United States military has utilized slogans to attract
recruits. O’Guinn, Allen and Semenik (200, p.380) define a slogan as “a short phrase…used to
help establish an image, identity, or position for…an organization…to increase memorability.”
As is the case with several slogans employed by the United States military, a good slogan can
Become an integral part of a brand’s image and personality.
Act as a shorthand identification for the brand.
Provide information on important brand benefits.
Provide continuity across different media and between advertising campaigns.
Bring about thematic integrated marketing communications. (O’Guinn et al., p. 380).
Each branch of the armed forces relies on slogans to attract recruits. Marine slogans have
typically emphasized the image of toughness and the implied eliteness of those who can stay the
course. Both “We’re Looking for a Few Good Men” and “The Few, the Proud, the Marines”
promises entrance into an elite organization (Garfield, 2001, p.49-50). In the 1970s, the Marines
briefly used the slogan, “We never promised you a rose garden,” a campaign that emphasized a
boot-camp view of Marine life (Rosenberg, 2001, p. 1).
Like the Marines, the Air Force has also used slogans to make its branch of service seem
appealing, elite and desirable. “Aim High, Air Force” helped the Air Force to accomplish this
goal. The U.S. Navy utilized the theme of joining the Navy as a way to jump-start a stalled
career track. Slogans using this approach include, “Let the Journey Begin,” “You and the Navy,
Full Speed Ahead” and “Accelerate Your Life” (Garfield, 2001, p. 49-50).
During World War II, women soldiers were recruited with the slogan, “Free A Man To
Fight!” This slogan helped women recruits feel that their non-combat jobs such as filling spots
an assembly lines were important because they allowed male members of society to join the war
effort. Probably the most famous recruitment slogan of the twentieth century was the WorldWar-I-era slogan “I Want You.” This slogan appeared on thousands of posters featuring a sternlooking Uncle Sam pointing at the potential recruit. The authority embodied in the stern fatherfigure influenced many young recruits to enlist.
The Army has utilized five recruitment slogans since turning to modern advertising
campaigns in 1971. These slogans include the following (Peckenpaugh, 2001): “ Today’s Army
Wants To Join You;” “Join the People Who’ve Joined the Army;” “This Is the Army;” “Be All
You Can Be;” and “An Army of One .”
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators (2005) . . . page 167
Given the mixed reception that various military recruitment slogans have received over
the years, an examination of the appeals utilized in the slogans may be instructive. A number of
models have been developed to explain motivation. These models include Expectancy Theory,
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Aldefer’s ERG Theory, and McClellands’s Acquired Needs
Theory.
An examination of these slogans indicates that for the Army, the most successful slogan of
the recent past--“Be All You Can Be,” a slogan which practically became synonymous with the
Army for 20 years--emphasizes Expectancy Theory, Self-Actualization, Growth, and Achievement.
The same traits characterize the Navy’s successful slogans. Belongingness, Relatedness and
Affiliation needs are represented by less-successful Army slogans including “Today’s Army Wants
to Join You” and “Join the People Who’ve Joined the Army.”
The current slogan, “An Army of One,” is somewhat difficult to categorize according to
motivational theory. McClelland’s Need for Power probably comes closest to describing the
appeal. It is hard to escape the conclusion that the lack of a clear appeal in “An Army of One” is to
blame for the mixed (and often hostile) reception the slogan created by Leo Burnett USA has
received. The lesson the Army could take from this analysis is that the 18-to-24-year-old target
market is most receptive to self-actualization, growth, and achievement appeals. In the future, it
may be that advertising agencies and the military will focus on themes and motivational appeals
which have proven to be most successful – those with appeals to Self-Actualization, Growth, and
Achievement Needs.
REFERENCES
Alderfer, C. Existence, Relatedness and Growth (New York: Free Press, 1972).
Garfield, Bob. (2001). Army’s latest campaign isn’t all it can be and rings false. Advertising Age,
72, 3, 43.
Maslow, A. F.. (1943). “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Psychological Review 50:370-396.
McClelland, D. C. “The Two Faces of Power, “ in D.A. Colb, I.M. Rubin, and J. M. McIntyre(eds.),
Organizational Psychology (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1971), pp.73-86.
Nadler, D.A. and Lawler, E.E (1977). “Motivation: A diagnostic approach,” in Hackman,
J.R.,Lawler, E.E., and Porter, L.W., eds., Perspectives on behavior in organizations. New
York: McGraw-Hill.
O’Guinn, Thomas C., Chris Allen, and Richard J. Semenik, Advertising (2nd edition), New York:
South-Western College Publishing, 2000.
Peckenpaugh, Jason. (2001). Bonding with the Army. Government Executive, 33, 3, 14.
Rosenberg, Eric. (2001). Army under fire for its new recruiting slogan. Naples Daily
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Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators (2005) . . . page 168