Parental Preparation for Back-to-School 2020
Parental Preparation for Back-to-School 2020
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The pandemic has caused a seismic shift in how many children will be schooled, and, thus, what day-to-day parenting will look like at home. From the buying of supplies to becoming more digitally literate, what are parents doing to prepare for the big return to school — and how are brands standing right beside them?
As back-to-school season reaches its peak in 2020, uncertainty seems to be the one thing that is actually certain. COVID-19 case numbers vary greatly across the country’s school districts, so each one is handling reopening differently — leaving plenty of parents in the dark as to what kind of school year both they and their children should be ready for.
In a Suzy survey of 1,000 parents, as well as 500 school teachers and administrative personnel, conducted on August 11, only 38% of parents said they were planning on sending their children back to school for in-person learning. An even larger number — 40% — said they remain undecided.
“Parents are looking for some guidance,” said Matt Britton, founder and CEO of Suzy, during a recent webinar, “State of the Consumer: Preparing for an Uncertain School Year,” which focused on the survey results. “It’s frustrating to everyone involved because the guidance isn’t coming down the way parents I think are used to it coming down.”
But parents are doing their best to prepare themselves and their kids for education to arrive back at the forefront, in some way, shape or form. Hidden inside these efforts are opportunities for brands to grow while offering support.
The Suzy survey showed that 37% of parents are buying more school supplies this year than they did last year. Among the reasons for this increase: 1) They need to buy virus-related safety products, and 2) they were required to buy for at-home AND in-school learning.
Joining Britton in the webinar was Rick Stringer, VP of the Crayola Customer Leadership Center, which analyzes consumer data to optimize customer experience and company growth. In response to the first reason behind the increase in parental spending, they discussed Crayola’s new face masks for kids, developed as the pandemic unfolded, in a partnership with SchoolMaskPack.
“It’s a form of creative expression,” Stringer said of the masks. “You choose your favorite colors; you’re keeping your kid safe. It’s been very successful.”
Given the safety-minded, utilitarian side of the product — something different for Crayola — Britton asked Stringer about the messaging behind the masks. Stringer said that they tapped SchoolMaskPack for assistance there.
“We know where our strengths are and our core capabilities,” Stringer said, “and we lean on our partners, and in this case we figured out that balance.”
Britton praised the handicraft company’s move toward manufacturing masks.
“Being nimble as a company, understanding how to be dynamic, it creates opportunity,” Britton observed. “Companies that have been able to pivot hard, figure out where the market is headed, and respond accordingly are the ones who put themselves in the best position to succeed through this.”
In response to the widespread call for at-home learning, parents are also buying tech gear for the first time this year, with 20% of them saying so in the Suzy survey. They also have to learn how to use the stuff, along with the communication platforms and other programs and sites their kids will be asked by teachers to engage with.
Such a reality prompted one Alabama school district to coordinate technical help assistance for remote-learning families. Britton believes the initiative should serve as an example to tech brands that are figuring out ways to adapt to the fluid market by appealing to parental needs.
“I think there’s a huge opportunity there for companies, especially in the consumer electronics technology space, to actually help parents,” Britton offered. In his mind, tech companies should find themselves saying: “We’re going to help you set up the right equipment so that your kids can feel like they’re at their best to be able to learn.”
And it’s not as though parents wouldn’t welcome such outreach.
In the survey, among the top parent responses to the question of how they’d like brands to help, assistance with online learning ranked second, only behind “Provide good quality.” The other four were “Be safe,” “Be positive,” “Be engaging,” and “Be creative.”
Those results should be of some relief to brands, as they are foundations good companies have built upon for quite some time. Perhaps not as much has changed in 2020 as we might think.
For much more information and results from the Suzy research, you can view the entire webinar, “State of the Consumer: Preparing for an Uncertain School Year” at Suzy.com.