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BRAND MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT
MRKT 670 –Brand Management Assignment
Regine Rhine
School of Business, Liberty University
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BRAND MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT
Introduction
Scholastic Inc is the world’s largest children’s books publisher and distributor. Most
commonly recognized by consumers for its involvement with schools and book fairs, the
company maintains its credibility amongst educators, and families through engagement and
expertise. Scholastic works beyond book publishing, as they provide literacy curriculums,
professional development services, classroom magazines, and media. There are currently over
100,000 schools, over 3 million educators, 78 million parents and guardians and 54 million
students being positively impacted by Scholastic’s work (Scholastic, 2023). The company
maintains a sense of corporate and social responsibility which is seen across marketing efforts
and strategies to best meet stakeholders (teachers, parents, and schools) needs. There are many
contributing factors to how the company maintains its brand equity and maintain relevant in the
market. This paper aims to explore these factors with Scholastic’s Education Solution
Department.
Scholastic Education Solutions
There are several departments within Scholastic Inc. The Education Solutions department
consists of programs that provide resource to allow educators and students to thrive in
comprehensive literacy instruction. The goal of this department is to positively affect the
development of students’ literacy skills, create readers that are on track for reading proficiency,
support educators through their teaching journey and strengthen at home learning and family
engagement. Many evidence based solutions are provided to consumers that consists of research
driven solutions to combat classroom challenges that block students from reaching grade level
reading proficiency. Literacy instruction solutions is a sector of the department that publishes and
prints digital solutions for whole-class, small group and independent learning. Striving reading
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solutions provide instructional programs to help children build foundational literacy skills to
meet grade-level benchmarks. Professional learning solutions consist of on-site coaching
programs that help reach grade level reading while helping leadership and teacher expertise.
Lastly, family literacy solutions are professional development family resources that include take
home books to equip educators on how to strategically and effectively partner with families to
improve student learning (Scholastic Education, 2023)
Brand Relevancy
The marketing department has created several strategies to remain relevant in the
education industry. As student and teacher needs change, so does the demand in the education
technology market. Following covid, several students experience reading loses, and returned to
school performing below reading proficiency. This achievement gap has left many families
unaware of how to teach students at home, and teachers unequipped and experiencing teacher
burnout. This exhaustion in the classroom is highly due to students with various performance
abilities in once classroom, and no set way to differentiate learning so that no child is left behind
(Pontifex, et al., 2013). The largest and most recent strategy to remain ahead of competitors is
the acquisition of an education technology product called A2i. Assessment 2 Instruction (A2i) is
a system for literacy instruction that has been shown to significantly improve student reading
outcomes. The product meets ESSA Tier 1 “strong” evidence requirements, and leverages
technology based and professional development components through online assessments, data-
driven recommendations, and aligned instructional planning. The product’s system uses data
from assessments of vocabulary, decoding, and comprehension to make individualized
recommendations for each student. More importantly, A2i provides educators with the number of
minutes each student needs across four different types of instruction, while also providing
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individualized instructional lesson plans. A2i is a product of 14 years of classroom research and
is backed by the science of reading which is highly relevant in the education market currently.
The adoption of this product has allowed Scholastic to remain competitive in the market and
increase awareness of the benefit the company provides to classrooms, curriculum and
professional development.
Brand Equity Management
The Education Solutions department within Scholastic centers its brand equity on the
Literacy Framework. The framework includes the following components: code-focused and
meaning-focused instruction, responsiveness, equity & belonging, well-being, and joy. Effective
literacy classrooms balances teacher-led instruction and student-managed learning.
Responsiveness requires the ability for teachers to be flexible enough to meet every child where
they are. Equity & Belonging relates to the concept that learning and reading is a civil right and
the need for equity in classrooms. Well-Being encourages the notion of students feeling safe and
supported throughout their learning journey. Lastly, joy is centered around children reading for
pleasure thus leading to them being motivated to perform better at school. than their peers who
rarely read (Obermeier, et al., 2022).
Recommendations
While Scholastic has reached success and remains the top competitor in the education
industry, there are many internal improvements the company can consider. Considering the
Education Solutions department houses products that require an extensive sales cycle to make
sales and reach revenue goals, marketing can support sales in more targeted ways. Creating a
strategy that guides customers through their buying journey will increase the likelihood of sales
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and remind consumers of the company’s brand value (Roberts, 2021). This strategy includes
becoming more precise in determining who the target audience is for specific products.
Conducting research on the demographic, psychographic and geographic happenings of different
school districts, student performances, state policies, and educator challenges will lead to a
detailed and tailored marketing approach. Marketing can utilize this research by including
relevant audience findings and product solutions to common challenges in communications
across emails, social media, and digital advertisings. Partnering with the sales team in this effort
will allow marketers to understand how consumers are feeling throughout their buyer journey,
for example in meeting two of sales convincing, marketers can determine what collateral or
efforts should be made based on the consumers response or lack thereof to sales members. These
efforts will lead to increased awareness of the brand value and equity while also benefiting sales.
Conclusion
Scholastic Inc has remained the world’s largest children’s books publisher and distributor
for decades. Departments within the brand such as Education Solutions has expanded the
products reach beyond books and in the classroom. While this is an exceptional move, it is
important the company remains relevant. Through the adoption of products that provide what the
education market is looking for in curriculum and professional development-based products, the
company has been able to market themselves and remain relevant. The acquisition of A2i, a
professional support system that not only empowers teachers to learn despite classroom
challenges but increase student reading proficiency has sparked buzz in the industry. With the
production of a new literacy framework that synergizes and improves the communication efforts
across the company to prospects and stakeholders, the company has a high chance of remaining
relevant and increasing awareness of their brand equity.
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References
About Scholastic. Scholastic. (n.d.). https://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic
Obermeier, R., Schlesier, J., & Gläser‐Zikuda, M. (2022). Differences in students’ scholastic
well‐being induced by familial and scholastic context. British Journal of Educational
Psychology, 92(3), 994-1010. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12484
Pontifex, M. B., PhD, Saliba, B. J., BS, Raine, L. B., BS, Picchietti, D. L., MD, & Hillman, C.
H., PhD. (2013). Exercise improves behavioral, neurocognitive, and scholastic
performance in children with attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder. The Journal of
Pediatrics, 162(3), 543-551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.08.036
Roberts, T. A. (2021). Learning letters: Evidence and Questions from a Science‐of‐Reading
perspective. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S171-
S192. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.394
Scholastic education. (n.d.). https://www.scholastic.com/content/educators/en/learn/scholastic-
education.html#:~:text=Evidence%2DBased%20Solutions&text=We%20provide
%20instructional%20programs%20for,and%20meet%20grade%2Dlevel
%20benchmarks.&text=Our%20on%2Dsite%20and%20online,expand%20leadership
%20and%20teacher%20expertise.
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