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Columbus police give leaders a look at new video campaign [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer](Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (GA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 29--Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren gave city leaders a viewing this week of a new recruiting video the department is using to attract new officers to the department. There are two versions of the video, one about 30 seconds and one about three minutes, that were produced by the Columbus marketing firm Image by Design. In 2008, the successful campaign for the Other Local Option Sales Tax pitched it as a way to get 100 more police officers on the streets. Recruiting and retention challenges have made it hard, even with the money available, to maintain those numbers, so public safety leadership decided last year to launch a marketing campaign. The project was started in the conceptual stage in the summer of 2013, Boren said. Filming finally began in January of 2014 and wrapped up in October. In conjunction with a billboard advertising program, the marketing project, known as "Join the Force for Good," has attracted 229 applications which led to 54 new hires, Boren said. So far, the videos have been viewed more than 22,000 times on YouTube, the city website and a police recruiting website, he said. Boren said he was very happy with the end product of the project, and also with its minimal impact on an already stretched budget. "We put this out for bid, once we put an idea on paper as to what we wanted to do," Boren said "The highest bid was some 19 to 20 times what Cyde actually charged us." Cyde McQuien, president of Image by Design, said he produced the videos and billboard designs at a deep discount, $10,000, because he thought of it as a public service. "Each day and each night these men and these women make it their lives' work to provide for our well-being and our security," McQuien said, pointing to a large group of officers who had participated in the project. "Not only for our protection, but to pursue and capture criminals. "When I was approached, it was easy from a standpoint obliging to a request. The challenge was how to work through this and develop a professional product, a professional message, with obviously a limited budget and limited resources." Part of McQuien's motivation was also because he has a family connection to the department. "I count these people as friends. As a caveat to this, I have a son who is also a police officer, so I had that viewpoint," McQuien. "But I've had the opportunity to really get to know these men and women over the past year." McQuien also credited the participation of CBS Outdoor Advertising for helping out with billboard space for the campaign. ___ (c)2014 the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.) Visit the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.) at www.ledger-enquirer.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |