THE CHALLENGE — EDUCATION PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING FOR UNION CITY NEW JERSEY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Union City, New Jersey also is one of America’s poorest and most densely populated cities where the vast majority of the population are first-language Spanish speakers. While the Board of Education is known nationally as an urban leader, at the time Furia Rubel was engaged to provide strategic education public relations and marketing counsel, the citizens of Union City knew little about the school district, its accomplishments and the free community programs offered in partnership with city government.
Furia Rubel worked with the Union City Board of Education to handle communications and to make the citizens of Union City aware of the board’s accomplishments and offerings. The target audiences included five distinct groups: students, parents, staff, community and prospective employees.
OUR DELIVERABLES — EDUCATION PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING FOR UNION CITY NEW JERSEY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Furia Rubel developed and executed a bilingual Spanish/English awareness campaign targeted at the 95 percent Hispanic population of Union City. Over the course of more than five years, the agency provided Union City Board of Education with a myriad of marketing and public relations deliverables. They included strategic communications support for:
- Jose Marti Middle School grand opening
- District-wide educators’ guide, information posters, television and radio commercials, and other collateral materials
- Development, branding and launch of the José Martí Center for Cultural Education and production the grand opening benefit concert with Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra
- NJSBA School Communications Competition awards applications
- Community awareness campaigns including the “Keys to Union City.”
- Development of the tagline: Providing Opportunity, Building Community
- Design and development of the school district’s website
- Strategic planning and management of the school district’s inaugural wellness fair
- Launch of the Early Childhood Education Center
- Communication support and grand opening of the new Union City High School
- Partnership with the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council on the $100,000 makeover of the Union Hill High School cafeteria to offer healthier food choices
Local feedback and usage of the various marketing tools including the keys and website was indicative of the overwhelming success of the campaign. Four additional keys were mailed to residents after the initial launch which resulted in unprecedented traffic to the Union City Board of Education website.
