This is one of my favorite projects and not just because I got to spend time in New Zealand consulting with Frank Advertising. Though, admittedly, that helped. A lot. If anybody else wants to bring to New Zealand for a couple of weeks – give me a call!

The project was a recruitment campaign for the Royal New Zealand Air Force and I was brought in to help solidify their plans and get them on the right track. And, of course, meet with the client and assure them that this was all going to be a huge success. And success it was.

The three month long campaign introduced players to the various trades available in the airforce through puzzles, tasks, and mini-games that mirrored actual job requirements. As players worked their way through these mini-games, they were introduced to actual people who worked for the Air Force. Additionally, when players were stumped, they could request a hint – provided by someone working in the specific trade via video (all pre-recorded). While the mini-games mirrored job requirements, they were fun and engaging. And it provided players with a better understanding of their skillsets as well as the jobs available, making recruitment easier and more successful.

The campaign wasn’t entirely about mini-games and puzzles, a fun story about a missing parachutist kept players returning as they worked together and individually to discover the location of six geocaches hidden through the country. Participating in the retrieval of the geocaches added to the players overall scores and, at the end of the campaign, the player with the highest score won a helicopter flyover of the country as well as the opportunity to parachute out of the helicopter. The winner and runners-up were all granted passes to an annual open house event celebrating the Royal New Zealand Air Force.