Scholastic Runs Trans-Atlantic Contest
Publisher Scholastic will run a trans-Atlantic essay contest as part of the $350,000 marketing campaign for its kids’ trilogy Children of the Lamp, debuting this fall.
The U.S and U.K. multi-discipline campaign centers on a “Three Wishes for the World” essay contest. The U.S. grand-prize winner gets a trip to London, lunch with trilogy author P.B. Kerr, a $3,000 donation to the winner’s charity of choice, and $300 worth of Scholastic books for his school.
The U.K. grand-prize winner gets a trip to New York City, lunch with Kerr, a £3,000 charity donation and £500 worth of books for school.
Three runners-up each get an autographed copy of Children of the Lamp, a Children of the Lamp backpack, $150 worth of Scholastic books and another $150 worth of Scholastic books for his school.
Ads tout the contest in Scholastic’s in-school magazines (2 million-circulation Scholastic Magazine in U.S. schools, and The Funday Times in the U.K.) in September and August, respectively.
Newspaper and radio spots support the contest. Scholastic handles the campaign in-house.
Kerr is an established writer of adult thrillers, publishing under the name Philip Kerr. Scholastic bought publishing rights to his first children’s books in 2003. (DreamWorks owns movie rights.) New York-based Scholastic publishes Harry Potter books in the U.S.
