VIA creates media campaign featuring “Norm the talking donkey” for Kick Start, an initiative to help Maine students graduate from high school ready for college, careers and citizenship.
Portland, Maine, February 4, 2007 – First there was Mr. Ed, the talking horse. In recent years, we’ve seen a taco-loving, talking Chihuahua and loose-lipped California dairy cows.
Now, here comes Norm, a donkey who knows how to deliver a diatribe.
The VIA Group announced today that it has launched a media campaign in support of Kick Start, a statewide initiative targeting Maine students in grades seven through nine. The campaign includes a TV spot featuring a talking donkey named Norm giving a student a kick in the “heehaw” to motivate him to study and prepare for his future. The campaign also includes online and public relations components as well as educational and promotional materials.
Norm’s computer-generated imagery was produced by Animal, the production company responsible for Taco Bell’s talking Chihuahua and the California Milk Board’s talking cows. The TV spot will run throughout Maine on networks including Fox and CW.
VIA created the Kick Start Web site www.kickstartmaine.com that features Norm and the initiative’s trademark “kicking donkey” logo. The site includes a quiz students can take that will direct them to colleges and universities throughout the state. Any student who takes the quiz will receive a T-shirt with the Kick Start logo, which will be mailed to his/her guidance counselor.
“Reaching the seventh through ninth grade audience presented us with a tremendous challenge,” said Greg Smith, VIA’s chief creative officer. “We’ve met this challenge by speaking to students in a way that is both humorous and thought provoking. Norm provides an accurate representation of what most kids need at that age–some ‘serious motivation,’ so to speak.”
An executive council named by the Maine Department of Education commissioner developed and administers the Kick Start program. The initiative’s goal is to ensure that all students in Maine graduate from high school ready for college, careers and citizenship.
Kick Start is largely funded through a National Governors Association initiative sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Kick Start also receives support from the Mitchell Institute’s Great Maine Schools Project.
VIA, one of New England’s largest independent advertising agencies, was awarded the Kick Start assignment last fall following a competitive review. The Kick Start assignment has been handled out of VIA’s Portland office.
About VIA
Founded in 1993, VIA is an agency with a long track record of helping companies grow by solving their toughest marketing, branding and advertising problems. The bigger the challenge the happier we are. Current clients include Analog Devices, TD Banknorth, HP Hood, Twisted Tea, CBS RADIO, Kick Start, Silverstein Properties, Monster, Dunkin’ Donuts, Cleveland Clinic and Arrow International, who are served from offices in Portland, Maine; Boston; and New York City. More information is available at www.vianow.com.
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