In the New Mexico Army National Guard, and really the Military as a whole, Soldiers have to follow certain rules and regulations. In fact, some might call it the Army way of life. We have heard sayings like, “We have done more before 5 o’clock than most do all day”. However, once an individual enters the world of recruiting, Army life changes just a little bit. In fact, one might say you have to think a little more “outside the box”. In reality, what does that mean? One could interpret it as the need to be more creative, although it could simply mean to get out of one’s comfort zone. “We have to adapt to the evolving changes of new generations,” says SFC Schumann, Brandin (Lead Recruiter and Logistics for Action Videography with Raiden Ruiz.)
In an ever-changing world, technical evolution is happening rapidly. Thinking about it, 20 years ago, people were literally taking pagers to high school. Now, if you walk through the hallways of any high school, you will see students with their cell phones in the palms of their hands updating their statuses on their favorite social media platforms.
Today, how does one reach out and engage the new generation? The thought process, one can assume, would be to sit back and watch what our target audience is looking for. The reality is, the United States military has not changed much over the years. Of course, the military has undergone technological advances, gained new and improved uniforms, and things like that.
However, tradition, regulation, discipline and regimen are still the same – all part of what young people are looking for: structure in an unstructured world. Therefore, the New Mexico Army National Guard decided to think outside the box and create some commercials geared towards its target audience.
Using marketing funds, the New Mexico Recruiting & Retention Battalion (effort led by SFC Schumann, Brandin @recruitingnm) hired an action videography company owned by Raiden Ruiz. Simply by looking at Raiden Ruiz’s Instagram pages @theofficialraiden and @raidenpromotions, one could see the level of experience and expertise in this area of all employees of the company involved. Raiden Ruiz has deep roots in Monterey Bay County and has expanded his talents in his new home of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The California-born tech videographer is adding value to the National Guard by bringing a competitive edge of low- budget action videography followed by delivery of social media management for large organizational settings.
Although Raiden’s family’s ties are loyal to San José State University (his grandfather Pete Michel is an alumnus and retired from SJSU), Raiden graduated with a masters degree at the age of 24 (in 2015) from the University of New Mexico, and has not slowed his business down since. Raiden Promotions is projected to expand by gaining huge contracts all over the world within the upcoming year. Raiden has experience in multi-country laws and customs and prides himself on being a top-level professional within his industry. Raiden knew he could not do this alone, which is why he teamed up with the very talented Dominic Gonzales. Dominic brings a whole new dynamic to the team, and we are excited to see what these two young individuals are going to bring to the year 2021. Thinking outside the box and building on best practices will make us all successful, with of course a lot of hard, but fun, work.