Surrey Police needed to recruit experienced Detective Constables from other forces. They wanted our help to challenge perceptions that only detectives serving in big cities get the chance to work on big cases and solve serious crime. The truth is that Surrey offers that opportunity, plus the training, career progression and work-life balance they’re looking for. This film showed our target audience that, here, they could be the detective they always wanted to be.
SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
- RESEARCH-BASED PROPOSITION
- A COMPELLING FILM
- CHALLENGING PERCEPTIONS
- SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN HIRES
- COST EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGN
SCOPE AND SCALE
Surrey Police asked us to create a video that would break common perceptions, and help to recruit experienced Detective Constables from other forces. We needed to show this target audience they could have the career and development they wanted while reassuring the public that they’re well protected and that Surrey is a safe place to live.
SITUATION
Surrey Police are often in the shadow of The Met. There’s a perception that only detectives serving in the big city get the chance to work on big cases and solve serious crime, and that Surrey is quiet and boring. But the truth of being a Surrey Police detective is quite different.
It’s complex. It’s challenging. And it’s rewarding.
SOLUTION
A RESEARCH-BASED PROPOSITION
Conducting research to understand why detectives worked for Surrey Police, we developed the underlying proposition, ‘Be the detective you have always wanted to be’.
COMPELLING VISUAL APPROACH
We wanted something that would stand out and resonate with our target audience, inspiring them to uncover the truth in Surrey. So, adopting a compelling TV documentary trailer
style, we worked with the filmmaker behind the groundbreaking BBC2 series ‘The Detectives’ to shoot it – making the result truly cinematic.
AUTHENTIC CONTENT
It was crucial to involve real detectives in the video, and at every stage, we worked with the detective team to ensure our film was as close to reality as possible. By conducting audio
interviews with the detectives we were able to match powerful, authentic, statements with the visuals.
RESULTS
SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN HIRES
Surrey Police hadn’t expected the campaign to be so successful – they thought a handful of people might apply. But, with 24 hires in 9 months (up from 5 hires in 13 months), the results
have really impressed them.
COST EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGN
With the typical cost to train a new starter as much as £100,000, this campaign built around attracting experienced detectives proved dramatically cost effective at £1,250 per hire.
