CASE STUDY Curious George

CASE STUDY
Stride Rite® and Curious George®
Stride Rite connects with moms and kids through sponsorship of
Curious George
Stride Rite's mission is to develop and market products that help children embrace life's
possibilities and adventures with confidence. What better brand to help support this mission
than everyone's favorite adventurous little monkey
Curious George. Through association with this
beloved character and the trusted PBS brand, Stride
Rite evokes a deep appreciation and commitment
from moms who understand that sponsors make
the shows their kids love possible. Year one of the
Stride Rite partnership with Curious George was
so successful that Stride Rite made the strategic
decision to sponsor this flagship series for an
additional 2.5 years!
Company:
Stride Rite
Target audience:
Moms with Kids
(multicultural)
Sponsorship:
Curious George
Term:
Sept. 2011–Jan. 2015
Goals
• R
einforce Stride Rite's position as a category leader by aligning with a highly trusted brand
• Increase brand awareness of Stride Rite among their target: moms with young kids
• Personally connect Stride Rite with kids and families through local events in key markets
• Generate brand awareness/affinity with moms in the Hispanic community
Strategy
• Create a custom multi-platform sponsorship of a trusted brand and leading national television series. This powerful
association extends to off-air platforms including the popular Curious George website and Facebook page,
educational outreach materials, merchandise (DVDs), mommy blogger campaigns and custom promotions both in
stores and at PBS "Kids and Family" events across the country.
Tactics
• Air Stride Rite's spot twice on each national broadcast of Curious George, the #1 series
among their core demo of women 18-49 with kids 2-5
• Heighten awareness of the relationship through Curious George's online assets, including
Watch Every Day.
PROUD SPONSOR
Stride Rite Presents
HOW TO TIE YOUR SHOES
Learning to tie shoelaces is an important developmental skill. It helps build fine motor skills and is a rich
childhood tradition. Connecting the steps to a story makes it easier for children to remember what to do.
1
2
3
George wants to go for a
walk.
Lift both shoelaces and
cross them.
Let’s make a path for him.
Wrap the front lace around
and under the other
shoelace. Pull the ends of
both laces.
Oh, here is the tree!
Make a loop in one of the
laces.
offering a specially designed Stride Rite Curious George sticker as part of the experience
4
5
6
George "Tie Your Shoes" coloring sheet, developed by the Curious George educational
outreach team
George wants to play.
Wrap the other shoelace
around the loop.
He runs around the tree.
Pull the middle of the
shoelace through the hole
created under the loop.
Then, he jumps into a hole.
Pull both loops tightly.
blogger campaigns with a targeted network of influential moms
• Extend the positive brand association into stores and make shoe shopping fun for kids by
Curious George
Goes on a Walk
First, demonstrate the steps
while reading the story.
Then help the child do
the steps while you read
the story. Once the child
is familiar with the steps,
have her or him also tell
the story. Repeat any of
these steps as needed.
• Leverage access to PBS stations and events by distributing a custom Stride Rite Curious
• Support Stride Rite's initiative to build brand presence in the Hispanic community by
implementing custom campaigns in both English and Spanish
Sponsorship Group for Public Television
WGBH | One Guest Street | Boston, MA 02135 | sgptv.org
See you later, George. Thanks for helping to tie my shoe!
Curious George is a production of Imagine, WGBH and Universal. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are
copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing
LLLP. Television Series: © 2012. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of PBS and is used with permission.
Proud sponsors of Curious George on PBS KIDS are Chuck E. Cheese’s® and Stride Rite Children’s Group, LLC. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY.
1210015
Stride Rite promoted their "Tie
Your Shoe" campaign in both
Spanish and English
CASE STUDY
Execution
1. Television
• S tride Rite received 2x :15-second spots on every episode of Curious George
(airs weekdays, plus repeats on Saturdays and Sundays)
•Each spot on Curious George delivers 300,000 W18-49 with Kids 2-5 impressions
•24% of Curious George's total audience of 7.3 million viewers is Hispanic. A full
season of Curious George delivers 1.7 million Hispanic viewers.
Stride Rite's 15-second spot
Source: NTI Live +7 Nielsen National NPOWER 10/11-9/12
2. Digital/Social Media
• C
urious George website: Stride Rite received visibility on the highly trafficked
Curious George website on PBSKIDS.org (averages over 51 million page views per
month) Source: Google Analytics 10/11-9/12
– Linked logo as a "Proud Sponsor of Curious George on PBS KIDS"
– Logo on printable activity sheets
• PBS Parents website: Stride Rite received visibility on the Curious George section of
PBSParents.org, reminding parents that Stride Rite helps provide the programming
they depend on for their kids
– Linked logo on every page of the Curious George section
Stride Rite's linked logo appeared on
pbskids.org/curious george
– Featured presence on the Curious George "Corporate Sponsors" page including
linked logo, promotional copy expressing Stride Rite's commitment to moms and kids and a link
to view Stride Rite's on-air spot
• Curious George Facebook page: Stride Rite received recognition on this immensely popular page
with 800,000+ fans
– Shout-outs and content sharing, including the promotion of a discount Stride Rite coupon
– Acknowledgement in the "About" tab as a "Proud Sponsor of Curious George on PBS KIDS"
3. Educational Outreach
• TIME for Kids: This well-known kids news magazine is used in classrooms across the country
Stride Rite's promotions are
shared on Curious George's
Facebook page
Stride Rite received logo visibility on 12 TIME for Kids Curious George classroom printouts, reaching approximately 1.2 million students and their families.
• Curious George Family Activity Booklets: Stride Rite received
prominent logo visibility on the inside cover of these booklets,
filled with ideas for hands-on learning for kids and their parents
to explore together. Booklets were distributed to approximately
200,000 educators.
4. Marketing and Promotional Items
• A
custom Stride Rite Curious George sticker was created for in-store giveaways. Kids proudly
adorn the "Who knew? I grew!" stickers bearing their shoe sizes, as they try on new pairs of
Stride Rites. Nearly 17,000 stickers are distributed across Stride Rite's 230 locations
each year.
Sponsorship Group for Public Television
WGBH | One Guest Street | Boston, MA 02135 | sgptv.org
Stride Rite Curious George sticker
CASE STUDY
• Stations distributed a co-branded discount flyer through member e-newsletters, member
websites, print publications and at "PBS KIDS and Family" events
• A custom "Tie Your Shoes" campaign was developed by the Curious George educational team in
English and Spanish. The campaign featured a branded instructional coloring sheet provided
to stations for distribution, offered to Stride Rite for their website and in-store use, and
available online via PBSParents.org/CuriousGeorge
• Curious George series DVDs released during the sponsorship term included the Stride Rite spot
on the DVD intro and the Stride Rite logo on the packaging
• Mommy Blogger Campaigns: Stride Rite participated in two mommy blogger campaigns,
reinforcing brand alignment and increasing visibility with influential and engaged moms
Stride Rite discount
coupon
– Season Premiere Campaign: Bloggers were sent the season premiere episode "Monkey Down Under" on DVD and
encouraged to host premiere parties (in-person or online). Participating bloggers were sent pairs of Stride Rite shoes
for their kids, as well as $50 gift certificates to give away at their parties
–Mother's Day Surprise Campaign: In Curious George's "Mother's Day Surprise" episode, Hispanic Heritage is
celebrated as George and Marco throw a party for Marco's mom. Latina mommy bloggers were provided with DVDs
and Stride Rite Curious George goody bags to host screening parties. Bags included Stride Rite socks and Curious
George plush toys.
SGPTV’S next sponsorship success story: Yours!
To learn how SGPTV can develop a customized, turnkey sponsorship opportunity to help your
company achieve its marketing goals, contact the Sponsorship Group for Public Television at
800.886.9364, e-mail sgptv@wgbh.org, or visit www.sgptv.org.
CURIOUS GEORGE is a production of Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston, and Universal 1440 Entertainment, LLC. Executive producers are Ron Howard (Imagine), Brian Grazer (Imagine),
Ellen Cockrill (Universal), Carol Greenwald (WGBH), Dorothea Gillim (WGBH), Jon Shapiro and David Kirschner. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLC. Television series: ©2013. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of PBS and is used with permission. Proud Sponsors of Curious George® on PBS KIDS® are Stride Rite Children's Group, LLC., and ABCmouse.com.
Sponsorship Group for Public Television
WGBH | One Guest Street | Boston, MA 02135 | sgptv.org