In-School Campaign Brings Books to Argentina's Poorest Kids

Selling to Kids, July 26, 2000

The Case

Crafting an in-school marketing message that balances promotional goals and educational validity can be a tricky process. And building a campaign that goes beyond posters or sports scoreboards and gets kids actively involved is even harder. Nickelodeon Latin America came close to finding the formula with its Ayuda A Tu Mundo campaign last year. The program, a Latin American extension of the 7-year-old Big Help campaign in the United States, strives to get kids to help their communities, and especially other kids, through volunteerism. The message is one teachers and parents embrace, and the focus on active involvment in the community means kids become a part of the campaign instead of an audience.

Nickelodeon first brought the campaign to Argentine schools in 1998. In 1999 the company was looking to extend awareness into more schools in Argentina, including the poorer schools in the interior of the country.

Hit the Books

The Nickelodeon team knew the poorer schools lacked some of the most basic educational materials, so it centered the campaign around a book drive. Kids in the more affluent schools in Buenos Aires were asked to donate books that would be divided among three schools in the interior.

Nick was on a tight budget of $130,000 for the three-month campaign, so the team partnered with Arcor, one of Argentina's largest candy manufacturers. The partnership was important in winning schools' and parents' trust for the campaign - Arcor's assets are 100% Argentine, and the company is well-known for its special foundation that gives back to the community.

Hit the Road

Nick created packages for kids, including a booklet explaining the book drive campaign. The booklet also highlighted an added incentive - a concert by Argentine pop star Manuel Wirzt - for the two schools that had the highest participation. Teams of Nickelodeon representatives were sent to 500 schools (with a staggering goal of visiting 36 schools per day per team) with the student packets, materials for teachers and posters featuring the ways kids can help in their communities. The teams rode in style in vans plastered with Ayuda A Tu Mundo logos, artwork and flags. The vans served a dual purpose, acting as mobile advertising outside of the schools and gaining media exposure for the campaign.

Nickelodeon supported the in-school campaign with spots on CableVision, and Arcor donated ad time.

A Storybook Finish

This feel-good campaign reached 54,000 kids in 500 schools and helped boost the visibility of Nickelodeon and Arcor with kids. Most kids who have CableVision are not familiar with Nickelodeon since it's not yet a part of their channel lineup. "In response to the advertising, several kids in the schools mentioned they were anxious for our visit since they had seen the commercials at home," says Ariana Fernandez, Nickelodeon Latin America senior marketing manager for Argentina. And Arcor saw a 15% sales increase for Dinovo Frutis, the bubble gum covered in a candy shell featured in the campaign. The spike in sales was a direct result of the cable and in-school promotion.

Most importantly, Ayuda achieved its goal of getting kids to help kids. The campaign collected 18,000 books for three schools in the interior. To put that in perspective, one interior school in San Juan had a total of 2,000 books in its library, which serves both the community and the school, before receiving 5,000 books from the Ayuda campaign. "The results exceeded our expectations and also the expectations of the schools who received the books," says Fernandez.

The Nickelodeon team offers the following tips for in-school marketing:

* Penetration in the classrooms can never be 100%. Some teachers won't get around to using materials, and in Argentina, the campaign did not reach some kids in-school because of security concerns.

* Always include an incentive for the school. School officials play an integral role in the process of reaching kids. The incentive can come in the form of equipment, educational materials, or simply the fun value of a concert for the entire student body.

* Any product you associate with the campaign should be approved by teachers and authorities. Ensuring that the product has a strong reputation with adult gatekeepers before it goes out to kids can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

The Team

Nickelodeon Latin America: 541-14-328-5055-56

Ariana Fernandez, Senior Manager, Marketing

Valerie McCarty, Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Claudia Santoni, Director, Marketing & Communications