National Guard Launches Innovative Film Campaign in Theatres Nationwide, Announces LM&O Advertising

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following the successful October premiere of its 3:30 minute pre-movie recruitment film entitled “Citizen Soldier,” the Army National Guard will roll out the second phase of the nationwide theatre campaign tomorrow, on Friday, November 30, with a broad array of innovative and interactive advertising components to complement the film.

The announcement was made by Andy Blenkle, supervisor of the Army National Guard recruitment account for LM&O Advertising, Inc., a full-service advertising agency headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. LM&O’s creative and media departments handled the multi-faceted integrated marketing project.

“Citizen Soldier,” which will appear on 24,000, or approximately 65 percent, of movie screens nationwide, was directed by Antoine Fuqua, the director of the Academy Award-winning film, “Training Day.” The film features the alternative-rock band, 3 Doors Down, which wrote an original song, also called “Citizen Soldier,” for the campaign. The film is projected to be seen by nearly 130 million movie-goers by the conclusion of its run in January 2008.

“This is truly a groundbreaking film and campaign, not only for military advertising, but advertising period,” said LM&O Senior Vice President and Creative Director, Dave Marinaccio, who conceived, developed and managed the production.

Citing the historical and current battle scene re-enactments, the complex pyrotechnics and the computer generated imagery used in the film, Marinaccio said, “We consider the members of the Army National Guard, and the Guard itself, to be larger than life, so we wanted this film to be as extraordinary as they are.”

Fuqua and a top-notch team of Hollywood’s best began filming “Citizen Soldier” in May 2007 at Camp Roberts near Pismo Beach on California’s Central Coast, and in sound stages. The cast was composed primarily of Army National Guard members and featured actual training scenes with tanks, Black Hawk helicopters and other military machinery.

“As major an undertaking as the film is, it really is just part of a very comprehensive recruitment campaign,” said LM&O’s Blenkle. “We’ve incorporated a number of reinforcing and interactive tools to supplement the film.”

Viewers of the ad will be pushed to the www.1-800-GO-GUARD.com/movie micro-site that will feature the film, free downloads of the song, “Citizen Soldier,” a redemption area for the millions of Army National Guard-branded “scratcher-style” movie tickets, and integration of trivia from the branded popcorn bags that will be distributed at nearly 1,100 theatres. Life-size, multi-dimensional stands will grace at least 850 theatre lobbies.

“Citizen Soldier” will also be aired on over 3,200 Lobby Entertainment Network TV monitors and pre-show slides will be featured on over 11,000 movie screens.

“We’ve been helping the Army National Guard meet its recruitment goals for more than a dozen years,” said Marinaccio, “One of the many reasons our work for the Guard is so fulfilling is because they’ve allowed us to be creative and innovative in the way we communicate to their target audience.”

According to Marinaccio, cinema-quality productions have long been the hallmark of LM&O, so it is no surprise that the full-service agency is pioneering the long format pre-movie advertisement with “Citizen Soldier.” And to achieve this, the agency has drawn on the same talent that has produced some of Hollywood’s blockbuster films.

“Since our ads appear before movie previews, generally the most visually stunning highlights of those movies, we have to tell our story with a similar level of quality,” said Marinaccio. “In my mind, I know what I want the piece to ultimately look like, so then it becomes a matter of identifying films with the same artistic style, and collaborating with the people and shops that created them.”

For “Citizen Soldier,” Marinaccio contracted Fuqua, the director of “Training Day” which earned Denzel Washington an Academy Award; A52, a special effects shop known for its work in music videos and HBO series; and Company 3, the film colorists behind the three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and “300.”

“Today’s audiences are very sophisticated and, in order to impress and motivate them, we try to create advertising that is one step ahead both visually and tactically,” says Marinaccio. “While “Citizen Soldier” is the longest and arguably, most cinematically advanced ad in the movie theater genre, it’s just the centerpiece of a multi-faceted recruitment campaign that draws on traditional and interactive mediums to drive potential leads into conversations with the National Guard.”

For more information on the “Citizen Soldier” film or integrated marketing campaign, or to arrange an interview with Messrs. Marinaccio or Blenkle, please contact LM&O’s Jim Boyle at 703-797-7103 or Kellie Malloy at 703-888-4381.