New Zealand Police have released a follow-up campaign to last year’s ‘The World’s Most Entertaining Recruitment Video’, with ‘Breaking News, a recruitment video encouraging diversity.
The three-minute spot, by Ogilvy and directed by the Sweetshop’s Damien Shatford, starts at a media briefing where the police are explaining how it needs more diverse recruits. It’s interrupted by a man who rides up on a tractor asking what kind of people they are after.
The rest of the ad features police being interrupted by members of the public asking serious questions about tattoos, height, fitness and eyesight in a variety of humorous situations. The end of the ad encourages potential recruits to sign up or get more answers on New Zealand Police’s new ChatCops digital platform.
The ad features over 70 real officers and police staff, with scenes spoken in both English and te reo Māori, and includes cameos from ‘Hunt For the Wilderpeople’ cop Oscar Kightley, Wellington Paranormal officers Minogue and O’Leary and Stacey Morrison.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush says the video features officers answering questions most people commonly ask before joining up, but in a “fun, creative and accessible way.”
“We want to better reflect the communities we serve and this means attracting new staff from all backgrounds, but we particularly need more women, Māori, Pacific Islanders and Asians. We also need people who are keen to work in Tāmaki Makaurau,” says Bush.
Ogilvy executive creative director Lisa Fedyszyn says the team discovered that potential recruits asked questions of cops they knew in order to help reach their decision about joining.
“So we wanted to provide as many answers as we could through the film. We thought creating the ChatCops platform would start up more conversations and provide the answers needed for those who didn’t have an officer to ask.”
New Zealand Police acting deputy chief executive – public affairs, Jane Archibald says it is thrilled with our latest recruitment video.
“[Ogilvy] have done a great job shining a light on a different perspective of our recruitment story in a way that remains quintessentially Kiwi. It’s important for us to hero our staff as our brand and ‘Breaking News’ has enabled us to do this and connect with wider New Zealand.”
The humorous video follows the tone of last year’s ‘Freeze!’ campaign, also by Ogilvy and Sweetshop’s Damien Shatford. The 2017 video marked a change of tone for the New Zealand Police recruitment videos, with the 2016 campaign tugging on the heartstrings.