Promoting Public Schools

St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota wanted a way to promote
to parents the advantages of sending their children to public school
over private school. Suzanne Yeager, executive director of
communications for the school system, came up with the idea to create
a branding program for the school system itself.

The school-branding campaign revolved around four key school brand
pillars that would point up what advantages St. Paul public schools
held over private-school education: big city advantage;
multi-cultural energy; responsibility; and commitment to individual
potential. The messages were incorporated into news releases, a
website, and public meetings.

In addition, Yeager wanted the messages integrated into rolling
billboards on six of the school system's trucks, which were used in
the school system for pick up and delivery of supplies to schools
within the school system.

Production

Pixidis, a small local marketing firm in Minneapolis, designed the
graphics in Adobe Photoshop using provided school logos and images
photographed by InsideOut Studios in Eden Prairie. Rick Peters, from
InsideOut, used a Phase One H-20 digital back on a Hasselblad camera
with a 120- and 250-mm lens to take the photos, and touched up the
final files using Adobe Photoshop.

From there, the files were delivered to Vomela Graphics, located
in St. Paul. Vomela used its 3M Scotchprint Printer 2000 to image
onto 1000 sq ft of 3M Controltac Plus Conformable Graphics Film and
added 3M Scotchcal Luster Overlaminate Film. The output and
installation were part of a 3M Community Affairs Donation Project;
the 3M Foundation paid for the materials, printing, and installation
of the graphics.

Printing and laminating took approximately three days working
intermittently within the company's day-to-day work schedule. In the
initial “trial run,” three trucks were wrapped in 2004; due to an
overwhelming response, three more were produced in 2005. The graphics
remain on the trucks today.

Comment

The St. Paul Public School campaign was kick-started by a branding
seminar that Yeager attended: “Like most people, when I thought of
brands, I thought of company logos–like the Nike 'Swoosh' or IBM's
'Big Blue,' or the Quaker Oats guy,” says Yeager. “It hadn't really
occurred to me that there's so much more to branding and that brands
have implications for non-profits, like public schools, too.”
”

Client

St. Paul (MN) Public Schools

The Players

Creative agency: Pixidis (www.pixidis.com)

Photography: InsideOut Studios (www.insideoutstudios.com)

Print provider, installer: Vomela Graphics (www.vomela.com)

Tools & Supplies

3M Scotchprint Printer 2000, 3M Controltac Plus Conformable Graphics
Film, 3M Scotchcal Luster Overlaminate Film.