The Tomorrow's Superheroes animated short video was developed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF) to coincide with the release of a report in partnership with the NAACP on the status of African-American student achievement in the United States. This helped lay out the evidence that more must be done to close the achievement gap for African-American students and ensure that all children have the opportunity for a high-quality education. The piece used powerful statistics to engage and educate viewers about the risk posed by allowing our African-American and Latino students to be left behind. The overarching goal of the piece was to create a sense of urgency and raise awareness around this national priority, as well as compel and engage the business community to take action.
The creative strategy was to use powerful storytelling and visually appealing animation to raise awareness around this extremely important social, economic, and political issue. Through engaging design and animation, this piece sought to distill a complex topic into a simple message for the audience: the future of our country and our economic stability are directly linked to the state of education. It is incumbent upon all of us – including the business community - to help students succeed. The piece illustrates the collective effort required to ensure all students deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential. Today's students are tomorrow's workforce. If we leave any subset of students behind, we are losing a valuable human resource and will collectively be worse off. The piece encouraged viewers to see the value of higher standards and accountability in the classroom to ensure every student is prepared for success, regardless of their zip code.
Once the video was produced, a targeted media buy was executed on Facebook and YouTube, to reach key audiences in selected states.
The piece and media buy were highly successful in garnering views among target audiences. The media buy resulted in almost half a million views.
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We were extremely pleased with the reach and viewership of the content. The video also debuted at an event co-hosted by the NAACP and USCCF in Washington, D.C. The event served as an opportunity for local chambers of Commerce and business leaders, as well as local NAACP chapter leaders, to come together and create strategies to address African-American student achievement.
