How do you translate a social cause into a classroom?

THE CHALLENGE

Verizon was fighting the perception and user feedback that STEM— the acronym for science, technology, engineering and math—was still primarily being taught to males across society, and asked us to help it create fresh storylines about its program that would mute that perception.

OUR WORK

We collaborated with Verizon’s marketing department to help create a storytelling strategy that would resonate clearly and urgently for families of young women and girls. We worked with internal teams on storylines, messaging and images around the Verizon Foundation’s Innovative Learning Lab initiative, requiring the coordination, buy-in and

influence of crossfunctional teams. We also worked with Verizon teams to lead storytelling workshops internally to test messaging and clarify goals unique to girls.

OUR IMPACT

Our input on storylines and video samples helped Verizon to model their visual message by making the audience of K-12 teachers the heroes, and to focus much more on capturing student voices to explain their authentic hopes and dreams for the future, and why they thought technology was essential to achieving those goals. The approach helped to increase brand awareness and elevate the perception of credibility and program quality.

“Are we equalizing the playing field for the factory jobs of yesterday or for the digital economy that exists today? Are we creating a diverse pool of tomorrow’s leaders?”

Rose Kirk

Verizon Foundation President