The Campaign

There’s often a special teacher that we remember, somebody who made a significant impact in our lives. But teachers don’t often hear back from their students and can feel undervalued, and unappreciated. Combining that with ongoing scrutiny of government policies to combat India’s poor education levels, heightened by media attention on what is being done to improve the situation, Pearson, one of the world’s leading learning companies, wanted to get to the heart of learning and sparked a movement to recognise teachers across India. Pearson’s “Thank Your Teacher” leveraged the timing of India’s Teachers Day by commissioning a survey among 3,300+ teachers in 220 cities. Results were released a day before Teachers Day and then a series of on-the-ground tactics were rolled out, plus a microsite and social media strategy. Over 32,000 thank you notes were written by students and shared with their special teachers. A Pearson Teacher’s Awards ceremony was also held and broadcast through a media partner as part of an eight-part series that included panel discussions on teaching, and highlighted past winners. Teachers definitely felt appreciated with award nominations exceeding 6,000 – plus the tens of thousands of thank you notes and conversations reinforcing the value of teachers. The unique campaign strengthened Pearson’s profile among students and potential students through 100+ print media articles in India’s most prominent newspapers, 1.2 million+ were reached through Facebook and #PearsonThankYourTeacher was trending on Twitter on Teachers Day, creating a whole new audience for Pearson’s expanded portfolio.

The Brief

Since Pearson was transitioning from a B2B to a B2C company with a product portfolio catering to students, the campaign ultimately needed to reinforce Pearson’s reputation among students and create preference for the brand and its products. Specific objectives were to: • Position Pearson as a thought leader in education and learning • Engage students in a way that would make them feel directly connected with the Pearson brand • Build top of mind recall for Pearson brand and engage with the stakeholders who could influence students • The campaign needed to widen communication around the Pearson Teaching Awards

Results

The campaign achieved excellent results both in terms of participation and communication reach. Pearson was successfully positioned as a thought leader through The Pearson Voice of Teachers survey reported in ten of India’s largest newspapers, including The Times of India. Engagement with students was incredibly successful through Thank Your Teacher with 32,000+ thank you messages posted by students. Pearson Teaching Awards received 6,000+ entries reinforcing the recognition teachers deserve, while building a deeper connection between educators and Pearson. Brand recall for Pearson was enhanced through Facebook and Twitter reaching 1.2 million+ people and #PearsonThankYourTeacher trending on Teachers Day. 100+ print news articles across mainlines and regionals reinforced the campaign messages and despite the tie-up with CNN-IBN, was still covered by Delhi AajTak, AajTak and Sahara. But, one of the greatest achievements was that all across India, teachers felt appreciated and valued to continue teaching and inspiring the country’s next generation.

Execution

The survey commissioned by Pearson among 3,300+ teachers from 220+ Indian cities found that 76% of teachers believed gratitude from their students is the best form of recognition, more than salary increases or recognition from management. The insight kick-started the ‘Thank Your Teacher’ campaign and was released just before Teacher’s Day (September 5th). Students and the general public were urged to thank their teachers in a multimedia engagement campaign via a specially designed microsite. Integrating with social media, photos, notes and video messages were broadcast and shared. The Twitter hashtag #PearsonThankYourTeacher trended on Teacher’s Day and a Q&A community blog was seeded with articles about teachers. The second Pearson Teachers Awards were held to celebrate extraordinary teachers. A fully-fledged nomination process was launched including activations in schools. And an eight-part series on CNN-IBN covered panel discussions on teaching, highlighted past winners’ work and concluded with the 2013 Pearson Teaching Awards.

The Situation

Known primarily as a B2B brand, Pearson was expanding its K-12 (primary, highschool) portfolio beyond publishing academic books to a complete set of education products, digital learning solutions and services. In order to fully realize the potential of the Indian market, and align with its global education strategy, Pearson would have to shift beyond the traditional B2B space, spurring a connection directly between the brand and consumers. Pearson needed to find a way to engage students and re-ignite the emotional spark created when a learner recognises the significant impact a certain teacher has had on their lives.

The Strategy

To achieve the goal of becoming relevant and connected with students, the strategy was to reach them through the people who have the most impact on their education – teachers. The teachers would be the ‘vehicle’ through which students and consumers would be connected to the brand. To achieve this, the campaign was planned in three phases: 1. Discovery: ‘Pearson Voice of the Teacher Survey’ – where we asked teachers for their views on what they value most 2. Engagement: ‘Thank Your Teacher’ programme – where we urged students to send messages, through a Pearson platform, to the teacher who made an impact on their life. 3. Felicitation: Recognising teachers through the Pearson Teacher Awards To gain more amplification among students and consumers, celebrities like former cricketers Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, and actress turned politician Gul Panag were also tapped to thank their teachers and lend further impetus to the campaign.