An Agency of One

The Army is looking for full-service marketing and PR agencies to submit proposals for an $800 million, five-year recruitment push. PR Week reports the contract would include "everything from advertising to promotional and publicity programs, internet campaigns, event marketing, and media relations." Leo Burnett Worldwide has overseen earlier the Army recruitment efforts. in May, the Army's recruiting commander Maj. Gen. Michael Rochelle said the the advertising campaign would be geared to potential recruits, as well as to influencers. Meanwhile, the Army faces a recruiting crisis, falling short of it's goals. Conservative columnist Robert Novak noted, "[T]he focus at the Defense Department has been on the excesses of desperate recruiters, 37 of whom reflected their frustration in trying to meet quotas by going AWOL over the last 2-1/2 years."