The Royal Marines Target Young People with an Innate Drive to Test Themselves to Their Limits

The Royal Navy is reaching out to young people who thrive on pushing themselves as hard as they can in a new campaign for the Royal Marine Commandos, created by creative collective, House 337.

It is only people with this state of mind who will have what it takes to make it in the Royal Marines, an elite Royal Navy force which deals with a wide spectrum of threats and security challenges around the world.

House 337’s idea is to help young men and women identify if they have the mindset required to become a Royal Marine by dramatising the one thing that all successful recruits have in common: an innate urge to challenge and push themselves to their limits, physically and mentally. 

A 60-second film at the heart of the campaign opens with a Royal Marines Commando on an exercise in some extremely rugged terrain. Faced with scaling a peak while laden with equipment and remaining alert to attack, we see he’s at the point where the idea of giving up creeps in.

“If you think you are beaten,” the voiceover says, “you are.” He digs deep and carries on, taking his best self with him and leaving behind the version which wasn’t up to the challenge.

We then follow him through more situations and exercises, being tested again and again in challenging conditions that require strength, determination, skill and courage – some of the attributes needed to succeed in becoming a Royal Marine. But the most important quality our protagonist demonstrates repeatedly, and the one which can’t be taught, is the internal drive to always be his best self.

In the final scene we see him proudly wearing the symbolic green beret that signifies his success as a Royal Marine Commando. “Within you is the best you,” the endline reads. “It’s a state of mind.”

Paul Colley, head of marketing at the Royal Navy, said: House 337 have cleverly tapped into a compelling insight around the attraction of the Royal Marines, and most importantly what it takes to become one. We hope that “Within you is the best you” captures our audience’s imagination and encourages them to see whether they have that `State of Mind’.

Katy Hopkins, creative director at House 337, said: To become a Royal Marines Commando it takes a combination of physical strength, agility and incredible mental fortitude to keep going when others cannot. In this campaign we wanted to spark a sense of recognition in those individuals.

The campaign breaks on television on 26 June, and will also run in its 60-second version in cinemas, with shorter versions appearing on VOD and online video until October, supported by social and digital activity.

It is House 337’s first new campaign for the Royal Marines since retaining the Royal Navy account following a successful pitch for the joint Royal Navy & RAF advertising contract in 2022.