Kiddie Academy Amazing Starts Here campaign, kids dressed as historical icons
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Creative Direction

Kiddie Academy

Amazing starts here.

The Spot

The 30-second spot that took it national.

The TV spot I directed for the campaign, built around the same idea as everything else: kids playing real historical figures, shot like it mattered.

30%
Rise in local brand recognition after launch
15%
Increase in enrollment inquiries tied to the campaign
90%
Of parents said the message landed with their family
The Situation

As Creative Director at Kiddie Academy, I was working in a market where every location competes with the same national chains and home daycares for the same parents. The product was never the issue. Kiddie Academy's real differentiator was character development and life skills alongside the academics, and that's a hard thing to put on a billboard.

I needed a campaign that made parents feel that difference, not just read about it.

The Idea

Every legend started small.

Lincoln was a kid before he was on currency. Edison was a kid before the lightbulb. So is every four-year-old walking into a Kiddie Academy lobby. I built "Amazing Starts Here" around that idea and cast real kids as the historical figures who proved it: Louis Armstrong for creativity, Thomas Edison for perseverance, and a young explorer for courage. Lincoln joined the roster as the campaign grew.

The Concept
Real kids, real families. Every face in the campaign came from the communities the centers actually serve. I worked with photographer Steve Belkowitz on the shoot, blending real kid playfulness with the historical costumes so none of it felt staged.
One line, every touchpoint. "Amazing Starts Here" carried across posters, direct mail, billboards, radio, TV, and the walls of the centers themselves, so the idea never had to be reintroduced.
Amazing Starts Here campaign poster, child dressed as Lincoln Amazing Starts Here campaign poster, child dressed as an astronaut explorer Amazing Starts Here campaign poster, child playing trumpet as Louis Armstrong
Amazing Starts Here campaign poster, child as a young inventor with a lightbulb Poster
Direct mail piece, Amazing Starts Here campaign Direct Mail
Amazing Starts Here campaign billboard banner Billboard
The Execution

One idea, six channels.

A campaign only works if it shows up everywhere a parent already is. I built this one to run the same way across every channel a franchise actually uses, local and national, traditional and digital.

Tactics
Hyper-Local Events: Open houses at each center, themed around the campaign's own historical role models.
Direct Mail: Personalized postcards within a ten-mile radius of each location, with a free trial day or enrollment discount built into the offer.
Digital Advertising: Facebook and Instagram ads showing kids as Louis Armstrong and the campaign's young explorer, plus Google Ads, display, and dedicated landing pages.
Billboards: Large-format visuals built around the same characters, including a young Amelia Earhart under the line "Aim High. Amazing Starts Here."
Radio & TV: A 30-second radio spot on iHeart Radio and a TV spot, both built around kids role-playing as the campaign's historical figures.
In-Center Takeover: Themed decorations, posters, and activity stations turned every lobby into part of the story, with branded handouts at drop-off and pickup.

"Parents don't book a tour because of a tagline. They book it because something made them feel like a place gets their kid. That's what Amazing Starts Here was built to do, and five years later, centers are still hanging these posters on their own walls without anyone asking them to."

— Brent Weigelt, Creative Director
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