Case Study

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.”

Scott Evans, Marketing Manager, School Specialty