Literacy Empowers All Families
On Behalf of the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County

Client Challenge:

• The ELC was tasked with developing a social marketing campaign to promote early literacy skills for Sarasota children ages 0-5 by engaging and educating Sarasota County parents about the benefits of reading and communicating more with their children.
• Since parents are often a child’s first and most important teacher, the primary target audience for the LEAF social marketing campaign are parents of children between the ages zero to five years.  Secondary audiences include elected officials and early education community leaders, public school educators and middle school aged children with siblings ages 5 and under.

Goals/Objectives:

• Increase the amount of time Sarasota parents with children between the ages 0 to 5 are talking, listening and reading to their children by a minimum of 15 minutes a day.
• Engage 25% of both the primary and secondary audiences combined for carrying and implementing the LEAF campaign message.
• Secure three partnerships valued at a minimum of $20,000.

KSC’s Solution:

• A simple, action oriented message was crafted to ensure maximum impact for effectively communicating the “how to” component forimproving early literacy development. Your Child’s Success is as Easy as: 1) Talk 2) Listen 3) Read was adopted.
• A campaign mascot of a scholarly bookworm, named Leaf, was created and bright colors and childlike font treatments were used to enhance and support the campaign message.
• Chosen tools to communicate the campaign message included mass transit PSAs, rack cards, bookmarks, posters, flyers, television commercials, PSAs and print ads.
• Mediums used to promote the Talk, Listen, Read message are public broadcast and network television, outdoor advertising (bus shelters), Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT), the Internet and magazines.
• Live walking communication channels were developed as well; supporting this effort was the development of LEAF’s Champion Program. Consisting of elected officials, school principals, librarians and middle school children, LEAF’s Champion Program was designed to train and support those groups that could act as ambassadors for the LEAF message. 
• Featured activities for adult champion members included reading days to young children and daily reading by middle school students to their younger siblings under the age of five.
• To support middle school students, designated LEAF Book Centers were created in select school media centers.
• The development of a LEAF Web site (www.growingmindsread.org) and parent/child LEAF membership program were also key strategies for supporting early literacy development.
• Driving traffic to the LEAF URL address has been done through all print and electronic advertising and PSA promotion efforts as well as through the communication efforts of LEAF’s Champions.
• Also supporting parents with their literacy development efforts was the creation of the LEAF membership program, which provides members with new books, an activity booklet, and monthly electronic communications called Leaf’s Lessons that contain fun easy to do literacy activities.
• Helping to both communicate the LEAF campaign message and its free educational support materials has been LEAF’s major partners, which include PBS’s WEDU, Talaris Institute, ABC-7, Lamar Outdoor, SCAT, Sarasota County School Board, and Sarasota’s YMCA and Boys & Girls Club centers.

Results:

• In a representative sample of Sarasota County parents with children ages 0 to 5, 100% responded that their talking, listening and reading time with their children had increased by 15 minutes a day, 24% said it had increased by 30 minutes or more.
• With the development of LEAF’s Champion Program, 24 elementary principals (serving 18,593 students) and nine middle school principals (serving 9,480 students) are supporting and carrying the LEAF message.
• In addition, almost 500 Sarasota County parents are actively supporting and acting on the LEAF message.
• Other LEAF Champions include the Sarasota County Superintendant, School Board, Sarasota County Commissioners, County Librarians, and Boys & Girls Club and YMCA leadership. 
• As a result of the membership and champion programs, 10% of the primary audience and 100% of the secondary audience is carrying and implementing the LEAF message!
• Moreover, 7 organizations have partnered with the LEAF campaign contributing significantly to its success.
• As a result of these partnerships, $71,928 in in-kind donations has been made to support this community-wide literacy campaign.