By Matt Semansky

Scouts Canada has launched a national recruitment campaign featuring creative that promotes outdoor experiences for kids.

The campaign, which began this week, is part of a five-year marketing initiative from Scouts Canada. The first wave of creative includes posters, flyers and postcards distributed to churches, schools and other community hubs.

The executions highlight the benefits children receive from exploring the outdoors while referencing more passive indoor activities involving computer and television screens. One poster, for example, shows a tent in the middle of a field at night, with mountains in the background, along with copy that reads "Try finding this on a search engine."

Another execution depicts a sunlit forest and includes the line, "Show them where Discovery Channel got its name."

The ads include the tag line, "It starts with Scouts."

St. John's-based Target Marketing and Communications developed creative for the campaign, the shop's first work for Scouts Canada since becoming its agency of record in the spring.

"Scouts Canada is really excited about the relationship we've built with Target," said Steve Kent, chief commissioner for Scouts Canada. "We've mapped out a branding strategy that we believe will really put Scouts back on the map in Canadian society.

"This recruitment campaign is a much more modern, fresh approach than we've taken for a long time."

Both Kent and Jenny Smith, creative group head at Target, expect the ads to resonate with parents who want to make sure their children spend time away from video games and other sedentary pursuits.

"The creative concept is just about getting your hands dirty again, getting out there and exploring nature and doing things in the outdoors," said Smith.

"It's about having great adventures and first-time discoveries."

Smith said Scouts Canada plans to follow the recruitment initiative with a broader branding campaign in the coming months.