Rayito de Sol

Spanish is not a second language, it's a life skill.

Bilingual education from an early age is viewed skeptically in major markets. While a stack of evidence proves it offers undeniable advantages to early learning, that message is not universally understood. This was the situation that Rayito de Sol Immersion Learning Centers faced when targeting national expansion. Our new campaign has taken this bias head on.

The Concept

An omnichannel launch showed learning Spanish to be an essential advantage. For life.

Our first step required re-positioning the message. After eight months in Chicago, for example, a 120 seat school had remain only partially filled in contrast to waiting lists throughout the Minneapolis DMA. This lack of participation was directly related to a messaging platform that pre-supposed parents knew the value of a bilingual education in general and the advantages of learning Spanish in particular.

We immediately set to redesigning and rewriting materials for every brand touchpoint. Through a series of playful ads, OOH and supporting promotions, parents were introduced to our new look and message — that Spanish is an essential skill for future success in life.

The Advocacy

An aggressively positive story began to emerge around Rayito de Sol -- that real literacy for children in the 21st century requires bilingualism.

The brand advocacy around the benefits of bilingualism was immediate and sustained. An aggressive social media campaign, buttressed by current events and learning experts drove the message home. One particular post about the lone Hispanic Candidate for President in 2020 was particularly telling — Juan Castro could not speak Spanish.

Results

The only way to explain the success of the campaign is to call it "off-the-charts." A 415% increase in enrollment over six months.

This chart shows the increase in actual enrollments within six months of the campaign. From August 15, 2019 to March 15, 2020 enrollments skyrocketed in the main Chicago facility from 21 to 91 students — paid and enrolled. 

What is equally impressive is that the median marketing spend remained constant over 18 months — with zero increases to the marketing budget. The results in Chicago also translated to schools across the chain with waiting lists for the Minnesota schools extended from two months to over six months.

By changing their messaging and reinventing their brand, ABd helped Rayito de Sol bring an essential message to markets that been turning a deaf ear to their story. People loved the story about the school and benefits of Spanish. All it took was “a little ray of sunshine.”