Remind parents in Crete, Wilber, and Friend to have their kids vaccinated before returning to school.

Back to school is a busy time of year. Parents are rushing trying to tie up loose ends, get back-to-school shopping done, and make sure their kids are prepared for the upcoming year. Instead of telling these parents one more thing to do, we gave them a mission. A mission implies a sense of purpose, and purpose appeals to a lot more people than instructions.

For kids, going back to school tends to go one of two ways — they either dread it, or they are so excited they can’t wait any longer.

We leaned into that mindset of excitement. Going back to school can feel like an adventure. With this in mind, we thought of the kids who needed to get back as heroes stranded in the middle of their summer adventures.

The headline we landed on was “Get Them Back Safely.” There’s a mission, a goal, and a sense of adventure.

For the design, we took inspiration from the covers of vintage comic books and put our heroes in various high-stakes situations with the goal of reaching the school.

For the radio ad, we treated it like the recap of a continuing audio book series, complete with an intense soundtrack. The result? A radio ad that captures attention and hooks listeners before they realize it’s a back-to-school ad.

The campaign included posters, digital, social, radio, newspaper, billboard, direct mail, and a rack card.

Radio spot: