• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 2, 2025

Crayola is anchoring its new back-to-school campaign in a hyper-specific, emotional moment: a drawing called "The Colors of Emotion" by nine-year-old Caydence Lane from Texas. Using all 64 crayons in the brand’s iconic box, her image inspired a bold challenge. Crayola invited 25 creators—including mathematicians, coders, painters, and sculptors—to reinterpret the work in their own medium. The upcoming video campaign reveals those creations to Caydence as a way to show how one act of creativity can spark many more.

Victoria Lozano, Crayola’s CMO, tells Marketing Daily what the brand hopes to accomplish—and why color remains its most powerful tool.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Marketing Daily: Why did you choose Caydence’s artwork as the centerpiece of this campaign?

Victoria Lozano: We needed to find that perfect child, one who represents all children. Kids—and all creators—are inspired by color, and we wanted to share this message not just of the inspiration that comes from color, but the inspiration that comes from other people’s creativity. And when we heard her explain why she drew her picture, and what color means to her, she was just literally the poster child for this campaign.

Marketing Daily: You’re asking creators from very different disciplines to reinterpret her work. Why was that important?

Lozano: That question taps into the core of our “Campaign for Creativity,” launched last year—this is the second year. It speaks to our core belief—and there is substantial empirical research to back this up—that creativity is a mindset, a way of thinking. You can express it in a lot of different ways.

The point is to stop people from using a very narrow definition of creativity and put it in this specific box about artistry. Creativity can power magical things, in any field or career.

Marketing Daily: What message does this campaign send to schools, especially at a time when arts funding often gets cut in favor of STEM?

Lozano: We always obviously support and advocate for the arts programs, teachers, and what happens in the art room. But at the same time, part of our campaign for creativity is focusing on how creativity shows up in the main classroom. You can absolutely use creativity and art to teach math, social sciences, and physics. It’s not either/or. We also know it improves testing and outcomes.

Marketing Daily: When will Caydence find out how her work inspired others?

Lozano: We’re filming that next week and then will be able to show her the incredible impact her art has had on these other creators. We’ll make it a very special event, celebrating her and her creativity. And we’ll release the film of the event in the next phase of the campaign, next month.

Marketing Daily: What does the media plan look like heading into back-to-school season?

Lozano: We're really leaning into social, trying to reach more creators, and hoping everyday people will get inspired by this. Once we have the reveal, we will put a more aggressive media push in place. Back-to-school is kind of our Super Bowl.

And we are a brand that people think of as synonymous with classrooms—even if teachers don’t put us on their list, parents will typically buy a new box of crayons. This is one of our biggest bets for the year.

Marketing Daily: You’ve spoken before about the emotional power of color. What role does it play here?

Lozano: Crayola has such an important place in people’s minds, in terms of the emotions of color. And I can tell you that the relationship people have with color and color names is very specific. About 90% of parents believe color has a strong impact on creativity, and blue, purple, and red are the top emotionally resonant colors for parents. We have fun with it—sometimes unretiring retired colors, for example. We just launched a global color vote, too.

Marketing Daily: What was your personal reaction to “the Colors of Emotion” when you first saw it?

Lozano: It was a little bit of a surprise, and we didn’t quite know what we’d get. And when we saw it, it was like, “This is magical. It’s perfect.” Caydence put her heart and soul into it.