Who will defend America in a changing world? Austin-based GSD&M Idea City will break a new campaign that highlights the critical role of the Air Force in the 21st Century. The campaign introduces a new slogan, “Above All,” which refers to the service’s operational domains and the essential role of the Air Force in defending America.
The premise of the campaign is that the world has changed — new superpowers are emerging, terrorists hide among the innocent, cyberspace is a new battlefield — and shows how the Air Force operates in air, space and cyberspace to meet these new challenges.
“We’re in a new security era where technology has expanded the range of threats which brings about new challenges in countering them,” said Colonel Michael Caldwell, deputy director of public affairs. “The Air Force is uniquely capable of addressing these new circumstances and GSD&M Idea City has a highly successful track record of helping us tell the Air Force story to the American people.”
In one TV spot, titled “Cyberspace,” we see an aerial shot of the Pentagon and a voiceover says “This building will be attacked three million times today. Who is going to protect it?” The scene then shifts to inside Air Force Cyber Command where we see Air Force cyberwarriors defending against computer-based intrusions. The voiceover then says, “It takes Air Force technology to defend America in a changing world.” Two other TV spots underscore the critical need of air and space protection.
In one print piece, alarming news headlines from around the world are displayed along with next-day hypothetical headlines. The copy reads, “We can’t predict tomorrow’s headlines. We can be ready for them.”
Online media executions are heavily weighted toward large floating units and page takeovers and are designed to interrupt and provoke users to visit www.airforce.com where they can find videos and links to read about real-world scenarios in the press. One banner expands from a small size to temporarily black out all surrounding content on the page, illustrating the potential effects of cyber attack.
“This campaign will create a distinctive brand positioning for the Air Force that will increase public awareness and attract recruits,” said Duff Stewart, president and COO of GSD&M Idea City. “This is a provocative approach that shows that today’s world requires the unique capabilities of the Air Force.”
The campaign will run nationally on the Sci-Fi and The Military Channel cable channels, during NCAA Basketball and NBA finals, and TV shows including 60 Minutes, NCIS, 48 Hours, Shark and Extreme Home Makeover. Print will run in USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and Popular Science and online executions will run on Newsweek.com, MSNB.com, ABCNews.com, Google.com and Yahoo.com. All creative will run through June with the website staying live throughout 2008.
About GSD&M Idea City
GSD&M Idea City is a leading national marketing communications and advertising company using the power of Purpose-based Branding and Dynamic Collaboration to create a destination for visionary ideas that make a difference for our people, our clients, our country and the world. For more information go to www.IdeaCity.com. GSD&M Idea City is part of Omnicom Group, Inc. (NYSE: OMC).
