A City of Einsteins
You may have seen Learning Leaders' new ad campaign on your train or bus shelter.
Our City's kids -- each unique and special -- have one thing in common: the potential to be great!
We hope these images will cause all New Yorkers to think about our City's kids and how they can help them succeed in school and in life by providing academic support and encouragement as a volunteer. Thanks for your continued support.
About the Campaign
| What are the objectives of the advertising campaign? |
- To generate public awareness of Learning Leaders and its tremendous impact on children in New York City public schools
- To stimulate greater donor interest
- To encourage volunteer involvement
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| How did the campaign originate? |
The campaign is the result of Learning Leaders' ability to leverage four extraordinary opportunities:
- Mayor Bloomberg’s declaration that parent involvement is key to a child's success in public education and that strengthening the New York City public schools is a major goal of his administration;
- The occasion of Learning Leaders' 50th anniversary year, beginning with the opening of the current school year;
- The donation of the creative work of the ad agency mcgarrybowen and other cooperating media companies, pro bono work that is valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars; and
- The generous contributions of donated advertising pages, to supplement purchased media, in major news media including The New York Times, which will run a full page on September 26, the day of the Opening Meeting, and The Daily News.
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| Who is the target audience? |
- Prospective donors -- foundations, corporations, government and individuals
- People who have a personal stake in the quality of education provided by the New York City public schools, including nearly 15,000 Learning Leaders volunteers, many of whom have children attending public schools
- People who care about the quality of life in general in New York City
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| What is the overarching message of the campaign |
- In four short words, the tagline "Making New York Smarter" describes exactly what the 15,000 Learning Leaders hope to accomplish through their work with public school students. It is our hope that, by equipping parents with the ability to foster their own children's love of learning, we will ensure that children in New York City are inspired and motivated to succeed in school.
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| Why feature children dressed as Albert Einstein? |
- Albert Einstein is a cultural icon; his image is universally recognizable and equated with intelligence.
- The children in the ads are students (as opposed to actors) attending public schools in New York City, and represent the ethnic diversity of the students in those schools.
- It is a light-hearted way of communicating that Learning Leaders is helping kids to learn and to achieve their greatest potential.
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| Does the campaign imply that all students should want to be Einstein? |
- No, it does not. Nor does it imply that all children believe Einstein to be the smartest person in the world. The creative features kids doing what they love to do – spoofing people they think are funny, smart, weird, etc. By wearing Einstein’s trademark hair and mustache, they are having good fun at his expense and, at the same time, associating with him in a positive way.
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| Where will the ads be posted? |
- The campaign (a series of six ads) will be posted in September and October 2006 throughout New York City on billboards, subway cars, bus shelters, construction sites and in The New York Times, The Daily News, and other print media.
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Watch the "behind the scenes" video of the photo shoot (in Windows Media Player format). |
