When considering back-to-school supplies, most people talk about things: clothes, sneakers, pencils, backpacks. Rarely do we address students’ emotional needs as they return to the classroom. Research suggested that the school supply in highest demand is empathy. And perhaps nowhere is empathy more needed than in middle school – those emotional roller coaster years when children navigate from tweens to teenagers. Responsibilities increase, academic competition is heightened and social cruelty gets worse.

Partnering with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, we conceived and filmed a psychological experiment among students transitioning from elementary to middle school. Do they think they’re alone in their complex emotions? Will sharing those feelings create empathy? And can a simple pack of tissues be the gesture of care that helps reduce their anxieties?

The resulting video spurred an unexpected and compelling back-to-school conversation, offering new strategies for parents and teachers, with Kleenex® Brand as the connective tissue.

We began with a student survey on strategies for helping young people thrive socially and academically. 50 responding fifth graders were invited to a workshop led by psychologists from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, where students listed their feelings about starting middle school: 54 different emotions, from overjoyed to awkward to scared. After showing students they weren’t alone in these feelings, researchers passed out Kleenex® On-The-Go tissue packs featuring a custom wrapping that allowed students to write personal messages. They used their newfound empathy to share messages of understanding and appreciation with students, teachers and parents, along with the tissues that come in handy in emotional moments.

A video capturing these powerful gestures of care was supported with earned media coverage, and hosted on Kleenex® Brand’s Facebook page. Mom bloggers and social influencers drove momentum by sharing the video with followers, and discussing pro-social strategies to manage back-to-school concerns.

Seventy-seven percent of the students in the workshop reported feeling better about starting middle school. Fifty-five percent said the experience of sharing a message on a Kleenex® pack taught them new strategies to manage their fears. And sharing their accomplishments helped deliver one of the brand’s most successful back-to-school PR activations in years.

Business outcomes

Contributed to a 2% ($25 million) overall sales lift for Kleenex® Brand compared to the same back-to-school sales period in 2015.

“Commitment to Care” video became a Top 3 performer out of the 26 videos released by the brand in 2016, resulting in a ROI of $1.67.

Media outputs

Became the brand’s most successful back-to-school earned media effort in the last four years, driving 122.3 million media impressions and prominent national coverage in Huffington Post, AdWeek, CNBC and Yahoo!.

Ninety percent of earned media coverage included key program and Kleenex brand messages, exceeding the 16% average for video content.

Consumer outcomes

Bloggers and social influencers delivered 80 million social impressions, and the Facebook video has been viewed more than 3 million times.