After over a decade of declining membership, the Scouts were losing ground to youth sports, after-school clubs, and video games. The brand felt outdated, and recruitment tactics that once worked had gone stale. The organization believed kids joined for service, leadership, and ethical values built over a hundred years. But our research revealed something different: kids weren't signing up for moral lessons. Instead, they wanted to be outside. Camping, fishing, climbing, learning to survive in the wild with their friends.
That insight became our campaign: "Be one with the wild." Instead of targeting the parents, we spoke directly to the kids with high-impact posters in their school hallways and flyers in their take-home folders. The initial beard campaign sparked national conversation. The following year, I led the critter campaign, covering scouts head to toe in the wild and proving the platform had staying power while earning global attention.
Results:
11% increase in recruiting YoY
16M+ Global impressions
975K+ Unpaid mentions
70+ Media outlets recognized
13 Addy Awards
1 Effie Award
Role: Creative Director
Contribution: Creative Strategy, Art Direction, and Design
Agency: Ogilvy