SCHOLASTIC
Product Development
Recapturing the attention of young bookworms.
In a nutshell:Ask: Develop a new publication that will revive Scholastic’s declining readership.
Problem: Teenage girls are Scholastic’s most avid bookworms, but the brand does not publish content that produces consistent readership from them.
Solution: An illustrated series that helps teenage girls with conquering their adolescent journey one monthly issue at a time.
Situation
Scholastic is seeing lower readership every year. In a digital age where cell phones and social media steal the attention of young people, Scholastic struggles to convince them of picking up a book instead.
Challenge
Compared to single releases, Scholastic sees continual readership when they publish a series or periodical content. In order to keep young readers hooked, Scholastic needs a publication that will serve as a recurring solution.
The Research
Out of all age groups within pre-K through 12, teenage girls read the most for leisure. But before we could publish content that resonates with this demographic, we needed to gain a deep dive understanding of them.
What does it mean to be a teenage girl today? 70% report that they struggle with anxiety, so we asked them about what causes their anxieties. The most frequent responses were academic pressure, body image and life after high school.
Realization
Teenage girls are overwhelmed about diving into an unpredictable future. We noticed that most of our interviewees started their thoughts with, “What if...”
What they don’t realize is that they can conquer any problem in more than one way:
Opportunity
Widen the perspective of teenage girls. Show them that despite the uncertainty of an outcome, they can explore more than one way to overcome their hardships.
STRATEGY
Help every girl to choose her own story.
THE SOLUTION
Now What?, a choose-your-own-adventure comic book. To show readers that they aren’t limited to one path, we chose this plot format that reflects multiple choices and outcomes.
When the main character reaches a conflict, there will be multiple scenarios that the reader can choose from. Each scenario diverges into a different way of how the story proceeds. This demonstrates to readers that no matter what ending they reach, the main character can overcome their anxieties in more than one way.
In this release, Blake has her first day of gym class. In the locker room, her teacher informs the students that they will change into gym uniforms, which makes Blake feel self-conscious.
This prompts Blake to choose between three ways to handle her predicament:
1. Tell the teacher that she doesn’t want to participate in gym class
2. Go to a bathroom stall where no one can see her change
3. Change in the locker room and hope that no one stares at her
Every scenario has a different ending, but the reader will realize that each one results in Blake overcoming her anxiety:
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
Scenario 3
Because teenage girls read mostly online, we made Now What? available as a digital publication. Readers will have the option of signing up for a monthly subscription to enjoy new issues online.
My Role
Brand audit
In-depth interviews
Target persona
Cultural analysis
Product development
Illustration