Enoch Pratt Libraries holds The Pratt Library Summer Challenge every year during the schools’ summer vacation. It is a fun way to prevent “summer slide,” the loss of academic skills that students may experience during summer break. It’s a free program and open to all ages and reading levels, including adults, and enables participants to win prizes as they progress through the challenge.
Normally, the libraries would rely heavily on signage; flyers and in-person sign up to the program at their various locations across the city. With all locations remaining closed to public due to COVID-19 restrictions this posed a unique dilemma.
The Pratt marketing team approached us to help them in this regard. They wanted a particular focus on kids, given the unique pressures the lockdown conditions have imposed on them.
We felt we had the perfect solution with sponsorship of our relatively new sunday special section Kids News. At a time when virtual learning is the new norm, Kids News has been providing young students with an outlet to stay engaged through stories, puzzles and images. Kids have been encouraged to print and post their drawings on Baltimore Sun’s Facebook page. Each week a winner is selected, and their drawing is published.
We felt this aligned perfectly with Enoch Pratt’s summer reading challenge, and put together a print and digital campaign. Print editions of Kids News included a fun rocket map with a cut out mini application form (see image below) as well as a logo sponsor. The digital version of Kids New included the ‘Sponsored by’ position alongside additional digital advertising units promoting the Summer Reading Challenge and driving click throughs to sign up.
Print edition
Digital Sponsorship
We have a full suite of options for effectively reaching parents and kids during these unique and uncertain times, and if you have a marketing problem such as this that requires a solution and a dedicated framework for promotion look no further than Baltimore Sun Media.