Case Studies

Client Problem

The Air Force worked for years to clarify what they valued and expected in development-training, education, and experience-for their civilian personnel. This new way of thinking created a significant shift in the policies, programs, and initiatives to which civilians and military supervisors of civilians were accustomed. The Air Force needed to communicate this change to approximately 140,000 geographically diverse civilian and military personnel. As a budget conscious federal organization, the Air Force needed to reach its large community on a resource-constrained budget and with limited manpower. More importantly, the Air Force had to find a way to direct a cohesive message to its personnel amongst the multitude of messaging received daily. With a seasoned knowledge and background in developing strategic marketing campaigns, and having worked with the Air Force on prior initiatives, Wedgewood Group was selected to help with the assignment.

Our Solution

Before developing the program, Wedgewood Group made it priority one to understand the challenges and constraints that we would face. Effectively reaching such a magnitude of personnel, bombarded with noise and clutter from multiple channels, required a sustainable, integrated solution that could be measured for effectiveness. Wedgewood Group collaborated with Air staff and Air Force Public Affairs members to develop a strategic marketing plan that included the messaging platforms, delivery methods, and media tools used to reach the entire community.

Wedgewood Group created a customized, integrated strategic marketing campaign that mixed traditional means-in person “Spread the Word” briefings, newspaper articles, and marketing collateral-with interactive tools-senior official video, internal web reference center, and an asynchronous webinar presentation. Our strategic marketing team generated content for each medium and helped produce the video and develop the marketing collateral each member received.

Realizing the time and budget constraints associated with reaching each civilian individually, Wedgewood Group helped produce a standalone webinar based on the content from the “Spread the Word” briefings. The webinar enabled the Air Force to further communicate the benefits of the program and extend the outreach to civilian and military personnel stationed around the world without expending considerable resources.

The cornerstone of the campaign was the creation of the Air Force Civilian Leadership Development Continuum, approved by the Secretary of the Air Force. By collaborating with Air staff, Wedgewood Group developed the continuum and distributed it as part of the marketing packaging both online and during each briefing. The continuum provides civilians a visual roadmap of civilian leadership development opportunities and gives each civilian a bird’s eye view of where they currently stand, what opportunities still lay ahead, and the development path they can choose. Similar to the concept used with a “scorecard”, Air Force personnel are encouraged to use the Continuum card to help plan, monitor, and track their development progress throughout their career.

Reaching a multitude of members was a feat in itself, but the Air Force needed to know the impact and benefit the outreach efforts made on military and civilian personnel. Was the communication working, and did members understand the message? Wedgewood Group developed, administered, and analyzed an Air Force approved survey to recipients of both the in-person and online presentations to gauge understanding.

Outcome

Within the first 6 months of implementation, communication efforts reached approximately 25,000 civilian and military personnel – a success rate of 14%. Based on the survey evaluation, the outreach garnered a measurable benefit for Air Force civilians and their supervisors. On a 5 point scale, 53% of all supervisors – both military and civilian – gave the outreach a 4 or higher in terms of usefulness in developing their personnel. The civilian leadership development continuum has been integrated into Air Force onboarding processes and is used by civilians and supervisors to chart development and career paths.