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Hittin' the Books

Interview with the founder of Cover Concepts, a marketing firm that places ads on school textbooks

[ by Todd Morman ]

Channel One may get most of the attention in the debate over ads in public schools (along with more idiotic blunders like the Prego Thickness Experiment, a "science" lesson designed for in-class use) but a more subtle and successful approach to in-school ads has barely raised an eyebrow. Cover Concepts Marketing Services in Braintree, Mass., started up in 1989 with the simple idea of giving away free textbook covers--with ads from McDonald's, Nike, and Chuck E. Cheese--to public schools.

It's a smart idea, and one that's allowed Cover Concepts to grow into a multi-million dollar business. Imagine the number of "impressions" you get when your product is plastered on the front of some kid's algebra book--a book she's required to carry around and look at every day. And, of course, the constant low-level boredom of the average school day puts her in a slack-jawed, barely conscious state that's perfect for absorbing your company's benevolent constant presence in her school life.

It works, too--at least by ad industry standards. One market research study found brand recall extremely high--up to 74 percent--for Cover Concepts advertisers at the end of the school year. According to Steve Shulman, co-founder and director of operations, "In traditional print media, if you get 4 or 5 percent, the client is satisfied."

But the "captive audience" (as Cover Concepts promotional literature calls students) isn't the most prized part of the arrangement for advertisers. Cover Concepts also collects demographic data directly from the schools, data about students' family-income levels, gender, age, race, and zip codes. "That database is our big coveted thing; it's what we're known for," said co-founder Michael Yanoff in a company profile. Cover Concepts can target specific groups of, say, junior high school kids who live within a few blocks of a certain fast-food franchise, and distribute that company's ads on covers to the schools that most fit the bill.

We called Steve Shulman, Cover Concepts' other founder and its director of operations, to ask him a few questions about the success of the book covers and the lack of controversy surrounding their use in schools.

Stay Free!: So what's your pitch? What do you tell your advertisers?
Steve Shulman: We have a network of elementary, junior and senior high schools that we contact to see if they want to receive free textbook covers. You remember the brown paper bags you used to use? Well, these are trendy, glossy covers that have celebrities on them like Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, Penny Hardaway. The kids want them; they think it's cool, and it saves them from having to make their own covers, which is time consuming. We sell ads on the covers and then sign up schools who authorize us to distribute the covers free. We reach thirty thousand schools and 25 million kids--that's about half the school kids in the United States.

Why are the covers so popular?
There's a real need; about 80 percent of school districts require students to cover their textbooks. So we save taxpayers money.

Advertising in schools has been pretty controversial. Why do you think you've managed to avoid most of the controversy?
As I said, there's a need. The first question we ask schools is "Do you accept advertising?" Ninety percent of the schools we contact say yes. At every stage there's a choice. Before it gets into the hands of a child, first the principal, then the teachers make their own decisions about whether to use the covers in their classroom.

But wouldn't it be hard for a teacher to go against a decision the principal has approved? Doesn't that put them in a weird position?
Maybe, but teachers seem to really like them; we're talking Nike with a racial harmony cover, or celebrities telling kids to stay in school, not to smoke, or covers promoting recycling, that kind of thing. The majority of the covers have a public service message. And even then, the kids don't have to use our covers; they can always make their own.

Isn't the only reason schools are interested in you is because they're so strapped financially? Aren't you taking advantage of that?
Well, a lot of schools are struggling with their budgets--who else are they going to turn to? There's a need for the private sector to help schools right now, and you don't get something for free. Why advertise on TV, for instance, if you're not getting something back?

But there's a difference, right? You can turn off the TV. Isn't there a problem of a captive audience here?
Well, captive is not necessarily a bad thing; think about the process here. There's choice at every step, from the administrators to the kids. It's different from something like Channel One. You have to ask yourself: is there a need to have an ad in the hallways, or on a bus?

Do you object to Channel One?
(pause) It depends. I feel that some methods of advertising are controversial and some aren't. Let's leave it up to school administrators.

Decided at the local level?
Yes. If I was a principal, and I could save X dollars by allowing ads into the school, I know I'd have to think twice.

What about the idea of public hearings before decisions about ads get made?
(pause) I'd welcome public hearings on our program. There's a need for book covers, and we screen our covers very carefully to avoid things that are too commercial.

What sorts of things have you rejected as too commercial?
One ad had a martini glass in it; we said no to that. R-rated movies--we say no to those. And universities who want to recruit; we don't think that's fair. Anything that's too controversial, we stay away from.

Have you had any complaints?
Just one, when we gave out Calvin Klein temporary tatoos with some covers. That was taking it a step further. A parent complained, and that school doesn't take covers with ads anymore. But less than 1 percent of the schools have ever complained to us.

What do you think of the idea put forth by Consumers Union and other organizations that public schools should be totally ad-free spaces?
What are their arguments?

One is that it's taking advantage, especially of young kids, who tend to believe what authority figures tell them. Or that it's sneaky--a way of building brand loyalties early on in life without the kids being aware of what's going on.
Well, young kids know if they like something--if they like the Nestlé Quik bunny, and they enjoy seeing an ad with that on their book, that's not a bad thing. Anti-ad groups don't give kids enough credit--these kids are intelligent. We run focus groups about the ads in some schools.

Not during class time?
No, during lunch. And the kids give some great feedback to the advertisers about what they want to see in their ads. One company started doing Black History Month covers after talking to kids in an urban school.

Do kids ever talk critically of advertising in the focus groups?
Not really, they're critiquing the art of the book cover, mostly. They like offering suggestions.

What about the argument that a lot of advertising--Calvin Klein, acne medicine, that sort of thing--plays on kids' insecurities about themselves and fosters them in order to make the sale. Should the schools be at all involved in that?
We've never had a complaint about that. In fact, we get letters all the time asking if we have any more free stuff to send. Sometimes the teachers and schools don't understand why they're getting the covers free.

They don't see the ads as an issue?
Not really. So it didn't occur to us that there'd be any controversy.

What do you think of the idea that the ads could be used in a Media Literacy campaign to try and teach kids to be more savvy about advertising?
(pause) What do you mean?

Well, the idea that a teacher would start a discussion in class critiquing advertising by using your bookcovers.
That's fine. I feel that some methods of advertising are controversial and some aren't. I strongly believe that book covers are not controversial in any way.