Now Casting: All Maine Babies

The Harold Alfond College Challenge is a program that provides a $500 grant to every Maine baby to start a college investing account. The $500 grant is offered at no cost to Maine babies; however, despite the generosity of the grant, many Maine families fail to apply on behalf of their children. The Alfond Scholarship Foundation asked Ethos for help increasing the percentage of Maine families who successfully apply for the grant.

Realizing that not all Maine families are reachable through traditional media such as print and television advertising (this is Maine, after all), Ethos developed a social marketing campaign that utilized direct mail, web marketing, PR, and social media to reach out to all types of Maine families. Alfond baby “casting calls” were held at various locations across the state, in which parents could bring their children to have a professional photograph taken (possibly for use in future advertising), and at the same time receive personalized assistance filling out the grant application.

The casting calls were wildly successful, bringing in upwards of 150 people at each event, and increasing application submissions by more than a third.