Integrated brand design agency Blue Marlin is proud to have created powerful branding for a cause close to its heart—an initiative to help get ex-servicemen and women back into the civilian workforce, which launches today, Veterans Day. Hire A Veteran is the brainchild of Viacom’s Spike TV, a Top 10 network with men 18-49, which is determined to help real life heroes find work and to promote the businesses that hire them.

Photo: Identity for Spike TV’s Hire A Veteran campaign

The brand identity needed to both represent veterans and appeal to them directly in a positive and dynamic way. It needed to look cool and contemporary and to fit in with Spike’s edginess and inherent attitude. The Hire A Veteran initiative is not about charity and sympathy—far from it. It is about recognizing the incredible strengths that former servicepeople have and the value they offer to businesses across the spectrum. Blue Marlin’s design encapsulates all that power, potential, pride and patriotism.

We should know as a former US army mechanic turned designer helped us to create the mark. Blue Marlin New York associate creative director Paul Bennett comments, “His experience of serving in Iraq with the 142nd Engineering Battalion and the insight that gave him were truly valuable. He helped us to understand how it feels to be a vet coming back home.
“Our simple and iconic mark is both positive and empowering—combining an 11 (11.11.11 Veteran’s Day) with a military star, to create a subtle V (for Veteran),” he explains. “It is designed to be versatile so that the brand can be applied in any number of ways online, on air, in print as the campaign grows and gathers momentum.”

The comprehensive campaign kicks off with public service announcements showcasing businesses that have hired or created jobs for veterans to incentivize others to follow suit. It also encompasses a website, HireAVet.spike.com, that acts as a destination point for veterans looking for work and companies looking to hire them. Spike will also serve as a media partner for nonprofit organizations devoted to the cause.