i think your fraternities need to have a sit down and talk about what they should do, both from IFC and the chapters. IFC exists to serve the best interests of the chapters. Tell them you want to start all over with recruitment and figure out something that makes sense for your campus.
a no bid period is pretty standard. here, it's from when school starts to official bid day. no summer restrictions b/c chapters usually have that themselves.
tell them you want to work together to devise a recruitment PR plan and work with the other officer(s) that do PR to look at all your options. you need their help....a few officers cannot do all the advertising for 10 chapters. the other officers could include those from IFC and the chapters.
you already know what doesn't work. tell them you want to stop and make changes. you can't do anything worse.
It's hard to give specific examples b/c there is so much variation between campuses. I think if you brainstorm with your chapters and see what guys their like and don't like, what will and won't draw their attention, what they like or don't like about fraternities (so you can do something to change their mind if there are lots of negative images or "maybe joiners" that you can draw in), then you will get great information and it will be easier to set your direction.
good luck!