Advertorial: Reader's Digest, "Service Stars" -- Four-Part Advertorial Series for U.S. Army
Monday, October 1, 2007
Iris Dorbian

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For families of young people who are Army recruits or who are in the process of deciding to join, it can be a psychological ordeal, particularly when the country (as it is now) is engaged in a war overseas. Last year, Reader’s Digest, in partnership with the U.S. Army, presented an extraordinary four-part advertorial series that focused on the benefits of Army service. Featuring the real-life experiences of four soldiers, such as one who experienced combat in Iraq, another who joined right out of high school and a female soldier, the series had a multi-pronged mission: to promote dialogue between young people and “influencers,” defined as parents of children under 18, teachers, guidance counselors and clergy; and drive readers to www.goarmy.com for more information. The program, which ran 6-page inserts in four consecutive months, September to December 2006, targeted 1.8 million influencers, a demographic figure that was based on research conducted by the RD team in tandem with the Army. Each insert contained a new soldier profile, a parent interview and a discussion of Army values and advantages; there was also an Army ad on the last page of the insert. To identify the best prospects for the series, the then-associate creative director of integrated marketing at Reader’s Digest, Dara Furlow (recently promoted to custom solutions marketing director) worked with the public affairs officers at various Army bases. RD conducted photo shoots of the soldiers and obtained photos of their parents.

Problems abounded. In the middle of the program, the Army changed its marketing platform and switched its agency partner from Starcom to Universal McCann. The partnership with Reader’s Digest remained intact. “That’s something we had to be pretty nimble about to preserve the business,” says Furlow. “The Army did a very deep analysis of what had been sold through. But we were able to preserve the business because we could reach their targets so directly.”

With an additional distribution of 100,000 overruns to select regional recruitment offices (there were no online components), Reader’s Digest energized the Army’s educational campaign and branding with compelling content and artwork. By presenting a candid look at life in the Army, the Reader’s Digest “Service Stars” series fulfilled its objectives, while delivering precise targeting (with a database of over a million names) on a mass scale.

So far there is talk about doing this program again for next year but it’s not definite. “We’re pitching it again,” says Furlow. [The Army] has come to us as a partner for big ideas but they have not done their 2008 planning yet. They’re in the process now.”

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