The simple fact is that in-school marketing has become a vital component of the education system. It takes a lot of money to teach today’s children. There are 56 million students enrolled in grades K-12, with the average public school spending $12,018 per student each year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Corporate funding helps to ease the economic crunch felt by districts beset by falling tax revenue and government support. Best Buy grants, for instance, enable 1,350 schools to purchase new technology. Kellogg’s funding lets 41 schools offer healthier breakfast options.
Nevertheless, in-school marketing remains controversial despite the fact that the players involved have been battling over the same issues for the past decade. On one side, advocacy groups decry the commercialization of schools. On the other side, cash-strapped schools seek relief from corporate sponsors. Only 6% of mothers feel that advertising through the schools, whether directed to kids or parents, is unacceptable, according to The Parenting Group, publisher of Parenting magazine.
Educational Sponsorships
Although in-school marketing has gained acceptance and encompasses a variety of opportunities (see spotlight on pages two and three), the majority of companies s
till enter this space with trepidation. They prefer to align with companies and organizations, such as Scholastic and MilkMedia, that have established and trusted relationships in the school market. These organizations, in turn, are careful about who they work with, lest they tarnish those relationships. Some categories, most notably food makers and fast food chains, tend to remain untouchable or too challenging to work with.
Companies want in-school efforts that are not controversial and which reflect positively, such as engaging in pro-social initiatives or providing free school supplies. Moreover, a few companies prefer that their presence in schools not be known as “in-school marketing,” but rather “educational sponsorships.”
Regardless of what in-school marketing is officially called, it is not the arena for companies to test new ideas or push boundaries. Even when companies align with less acceptable forms of in-school marketing, such as in-classroom commercials or advertisements on report cards, they “spread the wealth” by engaging in more tenable marketing outlays at the same time.
Another in-school tactic is to bypass students and focus on their parents. Young Minds Inspired’s Dominic Kinsley says his company is increasing its presence at daycares and kindergartens that “encounter parents at least twice a day during pick-up and drop-off.”
Youth Connections, which offers school-specific lunch menus alongside paid ads, successfully switched to targeting moms in 2009 after 16 years of targeting schoolchildren. Likewise, Scholastic finds many of its potential partners solely want their in-school efforts to reach parents. This parent-targeted outreach is reflected by the growing number of non-youth brands entering this space. It’s not uncommon to see messaging from insurance agencies, such as Aetna and New York Life, at elementary schools. Lysol, Brita, and Seventh Generation are also adult-oriented brands that view schools as a viable way to reach parents.
It’s increasingly rare that companies embark on short-term or one-off in-school marketing efforts. Scholastic “has always recommended that our partners make longer term commitments.” It can take months, if not years, to develop and implement curriculum. Also, sticking around demonstrates to advocacy groups that a company is invested in change, rather than just marketing a product. [Education/Marketing]
Contacts and Connections: National Center for Education Statistics, William Hussar, Projections Education Statistics, 202-502-7359; william.hussar@ed.gov; nces.ed.gov.
Scholastic, Kyle Good, VP Communications, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012; 212-343-4563; kgood@scholastic.com; www.scholastic.com.
For more contacts see related article.
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