Case Study:
Boston Red Sox:
Wally & Tessie’s STEMbook
Case study content property of Kidzsmart Communications and their respective clients.
The Challenge
The Red Sox wanted young fans to love STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) the way they love baseball. The goal: a book and digital program that taught STEM through baseball, and built to seamlessly interact with Fenway Park’s Kids Concourse and Kid Nation fan club.
The Brief
Create an engaging kids club community outreach program that teaches STEM through baseball through an interactive print and digital kids club campaign.
Scope
Creative direction, kids brand development, educational strategy, character redesign, digital and print campaign.
My Role
Lead designer, illustration, character design, research, curriculum development, concept development and copywriting
The Approach
The curriculum was built around Newton’s Laws of Motion, using baseball as the vehicle for the overall concept. Players and team mascots, Wally & Tessie, became the central storytellers throughout to leverage the game day experience as the learning experience.
The Solution
To engage a new generation of fans, I reimagined the kids’ program with updated characters, a baseball themed STEM workbook, and an interactive digital experience featuring games, trivia, and behind the scenes stories from players and Fenway Park. The program also extended beyond game day through downloadable activities that kept young fans learning and connected at home and in the classroom.
Results
The program gained traction with local educational centers, museums, and schools due to its curriculum alignment and accessibility to STEM. The Red Sox organization continues to use iterations of the program in partnership with these institutions to this day. From a marketing standpoint, my team's work was well-received, as evidenced by the positive client testimonial. I am proud of our accomplishments at Kidzsmart Communications and grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Boston Red Sox's fantastic organization and front office team.
Client Testimonial
“Major League Baseball, over the past few years, has recognized the importance of marketing our brand to today’s youth in an effort to bolster the sport’s popularity as competition in the sports/entertainment industry becomes increasingly competitive.
To meet these goals, the Red Sox organization has revamped our Kid Nation fan club program and implemented our new “Calling All Kids” initiative. This includes redesigns and rebranding of locations within Fenway Park as well as a heavy push through print and digital media. Kidzsmart has been an integral part of this effort. Through a collaborative effort between the Red Sox marketing department and the folks at Kidzsmart, we have been able to create great new content through our Kid Nation Newsletter email blasts and physical activity books. This content has been extremely helpful in capturing young fans’ attention and exposing them to America’s pastime. Content-wise, we’ve covered everything from activities, player profiles, collectible posters, and STEM reasoning and problem solving puzzles to engage kids and make the game more relatable to them.
I believe the efforts from this partnership have been very successful and have added value to our Fan Clubs memberships while also helping us on the way to accomplishing our broader organizational goals.”
— Boston Red Sox Fan & Youth Engagement