The British Army is making itself the career in which women are absolutely equal. And Karmarama is demonstrating that through the narration of a soldier who explains what it’s like to be a female solider with pride and humour. “I wouldn’t know,” she answers because in the Army, a soldier is a soldier. This she demonstrates with striking visuals, such as stitches that spell out “good for a woman”’ as the narrator explains that “no-one calls me ‘good for a woman’ when I’m the one stitching them up,” and ridiculous concepts such as “beach body rations”.
The aim of the campaign, A Soldier is a Soldier, is to highlight how soldiers in the Army are defined by their skills, not gender, letting everyone reach their full potential in a range of roles. The British Army offers equal pay according to rank, and equal expectations for all soldiers. This year, the Army is looking to encourage more women to apply to join them with female representation currently at 9.8% in the British Army and 14.2% in the Army Reserves.
The 60-second hero film leads a full campaign that covers cinema, video-on-demand, radio, and social media.
Major General Sharon Nesmith, general officer commanding army recruiting and initial training command, commented, “The Army is incredibly proud of the progress that has been made towards gender equality. Huge changes have taken place over the last few years, and we want to continue to make positive changes to attract and retain the best talent regardless of gender. We hope that ‘A Solider is a Soldier’ challenges people’s perceptions of female soldiers and highlights the incredible work all of our soldiers do, in order to inspire potential new recruits to consider Army jobs.”
Siobhan Penrose, head of marketing for the British Army Recruiting Group, stated, “We’re proud to be launching a campaign with the Army that directly addresses our attitudes to diversity and inclusion. We hope to build on the success of previous campaigns and ultimately offer all soldiers a chance to reach their full potential through a great career in the British Army.”
Nik Studzinski, chief creative officer at Karmarama, added “Building on the foundations of our This is Belonging campaign, A Soldier is a Soldier further challenges perceptions some people may have of the Army. In this case, gender labelling. The most important thing in the Army is what kind of soldier you are. Not what gender you are. We’re proud to work with Capita and the British Army and driving further progress towards gender equality is something that’s really important to everyone at Karmarama.”
A Soldier is a Soldier has also built a partnership with social media publisher, LADbible. The publishing group reaches two-thirds of 18-34 year-olds in the UK and half of its audience is female. LADbible Group also discovered that out of the first 100 images of soldiers on Google, 99% were male. Using these insights, the publication has created content featuring female soldiers sharing stories about their jobs and has hacked Google images to ensure more women are seen as soldiers when people search online. Its support aims to redefine what it means to be a soldier within its young audience and drive a lasting impact on what young people see when considering the Army as a career.
The new campaign is the latest iteration in the long term This is Belonging series, with this campaign showing how belonging means everyone’s potential and skills are spotted and valued.
Credits:
Client: Capita for the British Army
Head of Marketing: Siobhan Penrose
Creative Agency: Karmarama
Chief Creative Officer: Nik Studzinski
Executive Creative Director: Adam Kean
Creative Directors: Meigan Brown & Tobias Owen
Head of Planning: Amy Gilmore
Planning Director: Rhonwen Lally
Creative Producer: Cydney Chadwick
Head of Design: Simon Wakeman
Deputy Head of Design: Josh Lowe
Producer: Ben Honour
Production Assistant: Georgia Middleton
Chief Client Officer: James Denton-Clark
Deputy Managing Director: Zoe Eagle
Account Director: Will Bright
Account Managers: Joe Bowen-Hall & Murray Borthwick
Production Company: K-Studios
Director: Hannah Berry George
Producers: Angelica Polonczyk & Beverley Wells (Post Producer)
Executive Producer: Jon Harvey
Production Manager : Grace Matthews
Director of Photography: Kia Fern Little
1st AD: Janine Frank
Offline Editor: Ryan Robinson
VFX: nineteentwenty
VFX Supervisor: Chrys Aldred
Colourist: Kai van Beers
VFX Producer: Paul Branch
Sound: 750 MPH
Engineer: Mike Bovill
