Microsoft Bing in the Classroom Back-to-School Campaign
I was the creative director, content strategist, creative campaign lead and copywriter for this back-to-school initiative to raise awareness among teachers of Microsoft's Bing in the Classroom safe-search program. With my team at PBJS, we designed and facilitated volunteer outreach at 10 schools nationwide and created an online digital literacy contest to help students understand how to search smarter with Bing.
The challenge
Microsoft’s Bing in the Classroom safe-search program had low awareness and usage at member schools. Bing in the Classroom asked PBJS to help them devise a back-to-school campaign that drove brand affinity and adoption with teachers, administrators and students.
The Strategy
Create a back-to-school pilot program for 10 schools nationwide that would meet teachers’ needs for digital technology training while educating students about using Bing search. Microsoft employees from all over the country signed up for a one-day, on-campus volunteer program, The Back-to-School Crew.
Volunteers were tasked with giving presentations and training on Microsoft technology, and distributing instructions for the Summer Story Challenge, a digital literacy contest for K-8 students that tested their search smarts.
The Solution
I drafted a messaging platform to support this pilot program’s internal and external communications, and then our team designed and coordinated volunteer activations and the digital literacy contest across all 10 schools.
Our team built a mini-site for Summer Story Challenge contest entries that also provided teacher instructions, lesson plans and in-class educational materials, such as custom-designed posters and search tips.
I strategized and created both the online contest user experience, as well as in-class worksheets students could complete before submitting their official entries. As entries rolled in, I evaluated each one to ensure it met minimum requirements before sending final selections to a panel of Microsoft judges.
PBJS also managed prize procurement and fulfillment for contest winners — including a grand-prize trip for four to Hawaii.
The Results
The 2014 Bing in the Classroom back-to-school pilot program reached more than 200 teachers at 10 schools nationwide. Favorability of Bing jumped from 33% to 100% among teachers surveyed before and after their involvement in the Back-to-School Crew program. In addition, nearly 400 students entered the Summer Story Challenge, surpassing our goal.
Roles:
Creative Director
Content Strategist
Campaign Creative
Copywriter