Pearson | PR and Communications Research    

Objective

Pearson were looking to raise awareness of their new homework service Maths Made Easy. The resulting campaign aimed to deliver media coverage and raise awareness of the challenges faced by parents when helping their children with homework.

Strategy

The strategy was grounded in the initial insight that it is more socially acceptable to say that you are bad at maths than you struggle to read well. This was to be explored through further research, delivered by Opinion Matters and to lead Blue Rubicon to create a two-pronged strategy.

To create a compelling media story to be further developed by the support of brand ambassador Carol Vorderman.

To create an interactive online test for parents to assess their maths knowledge against that of their children.

Opinion Matters developed a timed survey app enabling constant real time data capture. The questions used in the quiz were based on the maths curriculum for children (Years 4-7) and allowed parents to see how many questions they could answer correctly and record a final score out of 10, reinforcing the key messages of the campaign.

Results

Both the media coverage and completions of the maths app exceeded the client’s high expectations with 72 overall items of coverage and OTS 41,516,000. This included: The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily Star and Metro, ITV Daybreak, Sky News Sunrise and 5 News. Throughout the user journey participants were able to click through to the Maths Made Easy website. The app recorded over 276,000 completions in its initial stage and the opportunity to ‘share’ the app created a strong social media presence as people shared it with friends. Online conversations about Pearson and Maths trebled.