ARLINGTON, Va. - The Army National Guard's sports marketing program, which previously included NASCAR and other sponsorships, is undergoing a top-down overhaul in order to better meet recruiting and retention advertising needs while allowing for greater flexibility at the local recruiting level, said Army Guard recruiting and retention officials.
Part of that overhaul includes stepping away from broad national marketing programs and allowing for greater focus at the local level, said John Williams, acting division chief of the Army Guard Strength Maintenance Division at the National Guard Bureau, adding that was one reason why the Army Guard did not renew its sponsorship of drivers in NASCAR and the Indy Racing League in August.
"NASCAR and IRL, they were national-level programs that didn't necessarily get across all 54 states and territories," said Williams. "It was only in certain regions where it actually made an impact."
Rather than remain with a sports marketing program that was divided between national and local efforts, as was done in the past, Williams said the Army Guard is slated to move toward a plan that is flexible at the local level, but with more focused guidance and oversight from the NGB.
Because of the widespread nature of the Army Guard throughout the 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia, there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, said Williams.
"In Wyoming, it's bull riding," said Williams, noting regional sporting interests. "In Minnesota, it's hockey. It's very different between them and we wanted to be sure they had that flexibility to do what is meaningful in their states so they can reach the target population of 17-24 year olds."
Williams said that in the past, there was no standardized format or scope of the contract for local-level sports marketing.
"Each of the 54 states and territories had a different way of doing a contract, but all were trying to accomplish the same thing," he said.
The new process also clarifies what elements can and cannot be included as part of the overall contract and provides for greater guidance on community relation events such as color guards, military appreciation days and other ceremonies or events that include Guard members.
"These things are community outreach type activities that should not be paid for," said Williams, adding that mistakes were made in the past concerning the contracting and execution of sports-related marketing and advertising programs that lead to the perception that some of those community relation events had been paid for by the Army Guard.
"[The] NGB is committed to fixing this quickly to be good stewards of federal taxpayer money [and we've] taken immediate action to make sure that in current contracts we are not paying for personal-in-nature items such admission tickets, parking, meals, backstage passes, tours and appearances and not paying to conduct events that are considered community relations activities such as color guards, and re-enlistment or recognition ceremonies of any kind," he said.
That also means providing more succinct and focused guidance to those throughout the Army Guard working on sports marketing contracts.
"We're providing a lot of more detailed guidance, whereas before the guidance was a bit vague," said Army Maj. Rita Holton, chief of the Army Guard Advertising and Marketing Branch at the NGB. "We're scrutinizing the language in the contracts and categorizing them in a more proper manner so that it's not perceived that we paid for any sort of ceremony."
Holton added that in the past, the separation of ceremonies and community relations events within the contracts wasn't as distinct as it should have been and often those events weren't actually paid for or part of the marketing contract, though it may have appeared as if they were.
Sports marketing programs continue to be an important element of the Army Guard's advertising and marketing focus.
"The sports piece is an essential part of our marketing focus," said Holton. "We are an unpaid advertiser in TV and radio and use sports marketing to broaden our reach and foster face-to-face recruiter engagements."
It's important for other reasons as well, said Williams, noting that roughly 66 percent of the age group the Army Guard is seeking to enlist are involved in a sports-related activity or have an affiliation to a sports related activity.
"Those usually involved in sports are the individuals who, generally, are more physically fit, mentally adept and understand teamwork and overcoming obstacles, which are all those things we look for in our young Soldiers, NCOs (noncommissioned officers) and lieutenants," said Williams. "They are exactly the people we want to go after."
Making these needed changes to the sports marketing program, said Williams, will provide a long-term solution that will maximize oversight, add additional process management controls and provide for full accountability of funds and services.
"We're putting in place a well-defined process that gets the reviews that need to be in place to ensure we are doing the right things, spending the money in the right ways, and not spending too much money," he said.