• by Les Luchter , March 1, 2022

Paper, an eight-year-old Canadian company that has partnered with 100 U.S. school districts in 30 states to provide up to 2 million students with free 24/7 online tutoring, has launched its first-ever series of consumer ads. The $10 million campaign covers 10 major markets.

From Heist SF and Mediahub, the campaign consists of 10 weeks of TV and 15 weeks of digital and out-of-home, running in markets that include Columbus, Ohio, Tampa, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.

Targeted to parents of school-age children, the campaign includes a :30 spot on TV, featuring five students with thought bubble quotes (for example, “How to I solve for x if y = 5” and “Bio test tomorrow. I’m not ready”). The students are also individually featured in five :15 spots running on digital.

The TV spot is running on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW and Univision affiliates over a mix of network news shows, a couple of dramas (“Chicago PD,” ”The Flash”) and  mostly reality shows such as “Dancing with the Stars,” “The Voice” and “The Amazing Race.”

Paper's consumer campaign comes on the heels of $270 million in Series D financing that closed last month.

Marketing Daily spoke with Lucas McConnell, Paper’s vice president marketing, about the company’s move into consumer advertising.

MD:Why was the decision made to do consumer advertising at this time?

McConnell:  In recent years the company has made tremendous headway with educators and administrators, but remains largely unknown to parents. At a time of heightened need (remote learning, equity gaps, etc.), the company saw an opportunity to engage directly with those parents who often serve as the tip of the advocacy spear.

Demand for tutoring in the marketplace is huge. But awareness of the existence of a service like this, free to parents, is still totally novel to parents.

MD:What kinds of marketing support does Paper provide to school districts for their own use?

McConnell:  We partner with districts in a variety of ways, including online training modules and certifications for teachers, free webinars for parents/guardians and promotional activities within the schools, all the way up to purchasing billboards promoting partnerships

MD:Why were these particular markets chosen?

McConnell: It’s almost an even split between markets where Paper is already in use, like Tampa, San Fran, Columbus, Atlanta, and areas in which Paper has less of a footprint, like Houston, Chicago, Denver, and Miami. In many ways this campaign is a test to understand the degree to which a consumer-focused campaign can drive institutional demand.

MD:Has the company done any consumer advertising at all before this?

McConnell: None. All of Paper’s marketing efforts to date have been B2B in nature, and geared toward engaging public school administrators.

Founded as GradeSlam in 2014, the company’s name was changed to Paper in 2020.

Online tutoring, as might be expected, experienced a surge during COVID, but many such services require subscriptions and cost from dozens of dollars a month for just a few hours of tutoring.

Paper aims to change all that with what it calls “equitable access to academic support... By partnering with school districts instead of families, Paper puts personalized academic support within every student's reach.”