Business is reliant on implementing marketing strategies to promote the product or service sales. These companies advertise to the public for various reasons but mostly for sales and growth. However, there are some institutions such as the US military that market to the general population to promote its' workforce. The military like the US Army rely heavily on this focus of advertising. More specifically, the Reserve Officer Training Corps program (ROTC) at San Diego State University (SDSU) puts a great deal of emphasis on this as evidenced by the encouragement of entire cadre to be "recruiters" themselves. The ROTC group consists of a Lieutenant Colonel, a major, a couple of captains and several sergeants who all serve either as instructors and/or as recruiters. They work together by implementing the traditional methods of marketing to achieve a common goal. This goal is to obtain as many qualified recruits as possible without undermining the standard of quality set by the Army.
However, it does not make sense to send the entire cadre out in the field to recruit potential candidates. Therefore, placing one person in charge is more efficient and this marketing responsibility goes to Major Michael Lovings, an executive officer and recruiting operations officer. His primary marketing task is to target the local and national high schools and colleges and persuade young people to join the ROTC program at an appropriate time. During my personal interview with him, Major Lovings elaborated on the purpose and responsibilities of his job. He spends a lot of time on these campuses, running Q and A sessions and seminars in auditoriums and conference rooms, and meeting individually with interested kids. His aggressive, proactive approach is very effective in bringing the ROTC program and military service into public consciousness. He also listed several challenges he faces as a representative of the Army ROTC program and offered potential remedies for these challenges. Before we address these challenges, let us begin with his military and academic history.
