School Specialty
Major School Supply Company Launches Successful Rebranding
Goals
School Specialty is a well-known provider of school supplies from some of the most trusted brands nationwide, including 3M, Crayola, and Elmer’s – as well as its own proprietary brands such as Califone and Frey Scientific. The company was looking to reposition itself not just as a vendor, but a holistic partner in helping K-12 leaders design and equip safe, flexible school environments that support forward-thinking teaching and learning experiences. As a first-time exhibitor at ISTE, School Specialty wanted to lay groundwork among top-tier education journalists at the conference to rebrand itself.
- Brand Messaging
- Media Training
- Media Relations
- Thought Leadership
- Event Management
- Social Media
- Content Development
- Strategic Planning
- Measurement & Evaluation
Strategy
- Coordinate conference planning across multiple departments to align strategy
- Develop new brand messaging and a media kit to demonstrate holistic story
- Conduct media training with company spokespeople to rehearse key talking points
- Schedule media meetings with relevant spokespeople to address multiple story angles
- Draft and distribute a news release announcing the company’s new vision
- Facilitate meetings with top-tier media during ISTE, the nation’s premier ed-tech conference
- Conduct follow up with media to secure coverage placements in media outlets
Results
CB&A and School Specialty announced the new branding initiative at the 2017 ISTE conference, the nation’s premier ed-tech event. CB&A secured meetings between School Specialty executives and the editors from leading education publications to discuss the rebranding. School Specialty received coverage in multiple outlets as a result of these meetings, and conducted impactful relationship building with top-tier media.
564000
Total earned reach
10
Earned media placements
“CB&A’s work has enabled us to accomplish so much more than we could have on our own. CB&A has functioned like glue for us in terms of getting the right ideas and people together at the right time. We figured out how to promote products in a relevant and compelling way when we started working with CB&A to lay critical groundwork.”
