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CASE STUDY   ·   GOVERNMENT & MILITARY

I Built the Department. He Inherited It. Together We Made History.

Four years as an embedded government contract marketing specialist with the NM Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion. The creative, strategy, coaching, and infrastructure behind the first NGB Marketing NCOIC awards ever won by the New Mexico Guard, regional and national, back to back, by a soldier with zero formal marketing background who walked into a department I spent three years building from nothing.

4

YEARS OF ANNUAL RENEWAL CONTRATS

1st

PLACE MARKETING REGIONALLY 

1st

PLACE MARKETING NATIONALLY

16

STATEWIDE BILLBOARDS

HOW THIS ENGAGEMENT BEGAN

Overqualified. Embraced Anyway. Because the Right Leader Knows the Difference Between a Risk and an Asset.

 

Synertex Government Services hired BrandMe360's principal for this role even though she was, by every measure, overqualified for the position. This was Synertex's first government contract in New Mexico, and they needed to build credibility in the state to be awarded more government contracts and grow their portfolio. Bringing in a high-caliber specialist was a deliberate strategy.

 

When the Lieutenant Colonel at the Recruiting and Retention Battalion met with her, he and his team recognized it immediately. His words were direct: she was "way overqualified for the position." What happened next defined the entire engagement. Instead of seeing that as a liability, instead of worrying she would leave out of boredom or move on when something more suitable came along or be difficult to manage as a high performer, the Lieutenant Colonel looked at his team and said: "That's okay. We need to modernize the marketing department and scale it up."

He did not hire a contractor. He embraced an asset. And he was right.

​

He did not hire a contractor. He embraced an asset. And he was right.

"It is not the title that drives me. It is the mission. It is knowing I can make an impact and a difference for the place I am working and for my community. I would still be there today if the role had not been defunded in the 2025 government funding cutbacks."
- Romie Martinez

THE STARTING CONDITIONS

Zero Documentation. Not Even a Working Copy of the State Slogan. One Civilian. One Soldier. That Was the Entire Marketing Department.

In August 2021, the embedded contract role began inside a marketing department that had nothing. No prior documentation. No archive of projects or assets. Not even a working copy of New Mexico's foundational recruiting slogan, Guard The Zia.

 

The marketing department for the entire New Mexico Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion consisted of exactly two people: the embedded civilian contractor and one E7 soldier. In most Guard marketing departments across the country, a single soldier handles the role alone. The New Mexico Guard had a civilian specialist embedded through the government contract structure, which was the difference. That civilian was the constant. She was there through every contract renewal, every leadership rotation, every campaign cycle, every award cycle. She built the department and she kept it running.

 

In four years, three different E7 soldiers cycled through the military marketing role. All three were promoted into marketing based on extraordinary recruiting records, not marketing backgrounds. None had formal marketing or advertising education or experience. Each received a two-week NGB marketing crash course when they stepped in. The rest came from the department that was already there waiting for them, including the systems, the creative infrastructure, the media relationships, the campaign frameworks, and the institutional knowledge built by the civilian contractor. All three depended on her expertise, her guidance, and her daily involvement to carry out the marketing mission of the New Mexico Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion.

"Four years later, upon departure, an external hard drive was handed to the department containing a complete archive of every project, asset, template, and deliverable produced during the engagement. The department was left with more than it had ever had."

THE WORK

16 Statewide Billboards. Vehicle and Window Wraps. City Buses. Mall Displays. Challenge Coins. MET Assets. Marketing Advisory. Photography. Four Years of Creative That Is Still Running 8 Months After the Role Ended.

The scope of creative and strategic work produced during this engagement reached every level of the New Mexico National Guard, from the Recruiting and Retention Battalion to two governor-appointed Adjutant Generals who requested graphic design support, to presentations delivered to the Governor of New Mexico.

16 STATEWIDE BILLBOARDS - 1 PERMANENT

16 statewide billboards produced over four years. One double-sided billboard is permanently displayed at the New Mexico National Guard facility in Santa Fe, visible from I-25, and remains in place more than 8 months after the role ended.

ALBUQUERQUE CITY BUSES - STILL RUNNING MONTHS AFTER HER CONTRACT WAS OVER

Large format creative still displayed on the backs of Albuquerque city buses, reaching commuters and residents across the metro area more than 8 months after the role ended.

CORONADO MALL DISPLAYS - STILL RUNNING

Large standalone display centers still positioned at both ends of Coronado Mall, one of Albuquerque's most trafficked retail locations, more than 8 months after the role ended.

CEREMONY PROGRAMS AND RETRACTABLES

Full creative production for official Guard ceremonies including programs, retractable displays, and event materials reaching military leadership at every level including the Governor of New Mexico.

WRAPS - VEHICLE AND WINDOW

Vehicle wraps and window wraps designed and produced for four New Mexico Army National Guard locations across the state, transforming Guard vehicles and facility windows into high-visibility recruiting brand touchpoints statewide.

RECRUTING AND RETENTION CHALLENGE COINS

Custom challenge coin designs created for the Recruiting and Retention Battalion, one of the most significant physical brand assets in military culture, representing unit identity, achievement, and pride across the NM Guard community.

MET ASSETS - MOBILE ENGAGEMENT TOOLS

Concepted and produced a full suite of Mobile Engagement Tool assets for recruiting events statewide: a 25-foot RC remote propane hot air balloon, a punching bag machine, portable charging tables, and a basketball blowup event recreation unit with 6 hooping stations.

MARKETING ADVISOR

Served as marketing advisor across all Guard marketing decisions including TV commercial schedule planning and media strategy, providing the civilian marketing expertise that the rotating E7 soldiers did not have formal training to provide.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Soldier photography, event photography, and a special spotlight series produced for social media, creating the authentic visual content library that gave the department's social channels a consistent, professional, and mission-aligned identity across all four years of the engagement.

THE CAMPAIGN

Two National Guard Bureau Campaigns. Localized for New Mexico.

2021 TO 23

"The Next Generation Is Now"

National NGB campaign adapted and fully executed for the New Mexico market across all creative formats and channels.

MID 2022

Role Expansion: Adjutant Generals

Responsibilities expanded to include graphic design projects for two New Mexico governor-appointed Adjutant Generals, the state officials responsible for overseeing the entire NM Army and Air National Guard.

2023 TO NOW

"Uncommon Is Calling"

Current running NGB national campaign, still active. All New Mexico-specific creative, localization, and adaptation developed and executed during this engagement. NGB campaigns typically run three to five years.

LATE 2023

Market Intelligence Deployment

Consumer intelligence methodology applied to New Mexico's 33 counties, mapping where the most qualified recruiting candidates concentrated by county and ZIP code. A 32-page intelligence report with specific persona targeting recommendations delivered.

THE INTELLIGENCE FINDING

New Mexico Is Not the National Average. And That Changes Everything.

The National Guard Bureau provided national demographic data defining the ideal recruiting candidate profile. The New Mexico market intelligence work revealed that New Mexico is dramatically different from the national standard and in fact actively skews national statistics in ways that make national targeting frameworks ineffective here.

GEOGRAPHIC EXTREMES

Mora County is one of the poorest counties in the United States. Los Alamos County is one of the most affluent. No national average captures either or the 31 counties between them.

CULTURAL DISTINCTION

New Mexico has a Native American and Alaska Native cultural presence more vast and significant than any other state in the country. National targeting frameworks do not account for this.

PRECISION TARGETING

Intelligence-driven geo-targeting enabled the battalion to know exactly where the best candidate segments concentrated, how to reach them specifically, down to county and ZIP code on a specific afternoon.

1st Place Marketing NCOIC -- Regional. Month 8. Then 1st Place Marketing NCOIC -- National. Month 12. No Formal Marketing Background. No Prior Training. No Prior Education in the Field. First Time in New Mexico Guard History.

Under NGB rules, only military members were eligible for recognition and awards. Civilians could not win or be formally credited. The awards went to the E7 soldier in the marketing role, as the rules required. But the marketing department that won was two people: the soldier and the civilian contractor who had spent three years building every system, every asset, every process, and every creative infrastructure he walked into. The department was recognized locally for both contributions when the role was defunded in 2025. Although NGB award rules prohibited civilians from being formally credited, the New Mexico Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion recognized that the first place regional and national NGB Marketing NCOIC awards could not have happened without the civilian contractor behind the work. Romie Martinez was formally presented with a plaque and a trophy award by the Battalion in direct recognition of her dedication, her expertise, and her essential role in producing those historic wins for the New Mexico Guard. The work that produced those wins is permanently on I-25 in Santa Fe, still running on the backs of Albuquerque city buses, and still displayed at both ends of Coronado Mall today.

DELIVERABLES

Representative Scope

WHAT WAS DELIVERED

  • Full localization of two NGB national campaigns for New Mexico

  • All graphic design deliverables across four years: print, digital, event, recruitment

  • 16 statewide billboards including one permanent double-sided billboard on I-25 in Santa Fe

  • Large format creative for Albuquerque city bus backs, still running

  • Standalone display centers at both ends of Coronado Mall, still running

  • Vehicle wraps and window wraps for four NM Army National Guard locations statewide

  • Recruiting and Retention Battalion challenge coin design

  • MET assets: 25-foot RC remote propane hot air balloon

  • MET assets: punching bag machine, portable charging tables

  • MET assets: basketball blowup recreation unit with 6 hooping stations

  • Marketing advisory across all Guard marketing including TV commercial schedules

  • Soldier photography, event photography, and special spotlight series for social media

  • Ceremony programs, retractables, and event materials for official Guard ceremonies

  • Presentations to the Governor of New Mexico

  • Graphic design support for two governor-appointed Adjutant Generals

  • Army Values banner series: Personal Courage, Duty, Respect, Honor, Selfless Service, Loyalty, Legacy 

  • Guard The Zia campaign creative across all formats

  • Logos and patch designs including the NM Guard Costa Rica deployment patch

  • MEPs and recruitment event materials statewide

  • 32-page New Mexico market intelligence and persona targeting report

  • Coaching and development of three E7 soldiers through the marketing role

  • Complete department asset archive on external hard drive delivered at departure

  • Full modernization of the marketing department from zero documentation to award-winning operation​

"This Is What Romie Martinez, Our Founder, Principal, and New Mexico's First and Only Brand Health Intelligence Strategist, Brings to BrandMe360 | BHIA."

Not a campaign. A department. Built from nothing, sustained through four years and three leadership rotations, permanently on I-25 in Santa Fe, and still running on Albuquerque city buses and at Coronado Mall today. The mission drives the work. The work outlasts the engagement.

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