The Royal Navy needed recruits. But the old playbook wasn’t working on Gen Z.

The Royal Navy’s success depends on recruiting thousands of 16–24-year-olds each year. But Gen Z’s changing expectations and behaviours were making that target more elusive than ever. Digital-first, aesthetically driven and authenticity-focused, this generation demanded an experience that a bloated and unfocused website couldn’t deliver.

The mission was clear: engineer a user-centred experience that inspired the next generation to get onboard. Alongside the client, we mapped a watertight site strategy based on doing fewer things better.

Success starts with understanding your audience. From our deep audience research, we knew half of Gen Z valued content they can’t get anywhere else. They’re less driven by patriotism than previous generations. They need to see themselves in the action.

Working closely with experts at the Navy, we defined benefits that few others could offer, such as on-the-job qualifications, seeing new horizons, and world-class equipment. Through rapid prototyping and continuous testing, we put these in front of potential recruits to shape the experience around their needs and expectations.

A digital brand refresh required bold decisions, including using a monochrome logo, a new font sharing angular characteristics with modern ships, and colours drawn from real-world naval touchpoints such as radar screens.

Content was also reimagined for Gen Z, including Stories – a new, bite-sized mobile-first format providing an outlet for unvarnished, real-life insights. It answers Gen Z’s most human concerns like ‘What’s a typical day like?’ and ‘Will I fit in?’

A new technical architecture delivered flexibility, scalability and military-grade security. The process involved migrating to Sitecore Managed Cloud – possible because of our experience with strict security requirements. Complete with headless content delivery and composable page composition, the Royal Navy can now meet short-term goals and long-term ambitions. And as Gen Z’s needs evolve, we can reshape the experience to match.

The impact? Immediate. The new experience naturally filtered candidates, increasing qualified applications while reducing ineligible ones. Industry validation followed, with 11 awards including a Webby, a Lovie and the Digital Impact Awards Grand Prix.

This wasn’t just a website redesign. It was a new blueprint for digital-first recruitment. By putting authentic experience at the heart of every decision, we created a five-star experience connecting with a new generation – on their terms.

About Great State

Great State is an independent, digital customer experience agency. We apply consumer insight to digital innovation challenges, to deliver exceptional customer experiences, at pace and with scale.