Brands love Hallmark holidays. And while most have been focused on Mother’s Day, coming up this weekend, Kohler, the faucet company, set its sights on Teacher Appreciation Week, ending today, instead.
Shane Heiman, a second-grade teacher at New York Elementary in Lawrence, Kansas, had an unusual assignment for his students: redesign boring showers. Heiman tweeted at Kohler asking them to keep a watch out for his students’ submissions Kohler then decided to draw up its own renderings of their visions and tweet them back to the students through Heiman’s account.
@ShaneHeiman Go New York Knights! What AMAZING ideas (and students)! Be on the lookout for something super cool. pic.twitter.com/hbDv1bXmEL
— Kohler Co. (@Kohler) April 27, 2015
The bath and kitchenware brand enlisted a team of in-house designers to bring Heiman’s students’ ideas to life. “What drew us in was that we had an opportunity to engage with a teacher who was encouraging his students to think in new, interesting and creative ways,” said James Sandora, director of digital strategy & integration for Kohler. “As a brand, we share these values with him, respect creativity and also try to reflect that in our products.”
As for Heiman, this wasn’t the first unique prompt that he assigned to his class of 18 second graders. The teacher realized that everyday requests to write journal entries weren’t touching a chord with the kids, so he decided to push the boundaries with non-generic prompts. He has made them design cars with out-of-the-world features — and captured brand attention from companies like Ford and Chevrolet, which sent over modeling clay, sketchpads and an Amazon gift card for his class.
@ShaneHeiman We’re loving seeing your students’ ideas today. Thanks for pushing them to dream big & think outside the box, Shane!
— Ford Motor Company (@Ford) October 14, 2014
“This gets them excited about being creative, and they feel acknowledged when brands like these respond,” he said. “As a kid, you always want that business reply — you want to be acknowledged because that keeps you motivated.”
Heiman printed the Kohler designs out for each of his students, which were in the form of personalized letters addressed to them by the designer that drew them. He also recorded a video.
Check out what @Kohler did, @textilecouture !!! I’ll be printing these tomorrow morning for each student!! https://t.co/2BGS0ECAyR
— Shane Heiman (@ShaneHeiman) May 6, 2015
Check out some of the students’ descriptions that designers at Kohler then converted into pictures.
This one by Tallulah, who has a very conscientious bent of mind.
@ShaneHeiman Tallulah, great thinking on your adjustable curved #showerhead. Great for people of all heights! pic.twitter.com/Guxqt3Wvsy
— Kohler Co. (@Kohler) May 6, 2015
Or Gladys, who wants to do the least amount of work possible while showering.
@ShaneHeiman Gladys, a #showerhead that follows you while you move is an awesome idea! Smart thinking. pic.twitter.com/j2MAdpsWfC
— Kohler Co. (@Kohler) May 6, 2015
And this one by Adriana, who wants to smell like bananas.
@ShaneHeiman Adriana, we imagine your banana #showerhead leaving people smelling yummy! What a fun idea. pic.twitter.com/qB6RrnB0hh
— Kohler Co. (@Kohler) May 6, 2015
Or Aidan, who does not like conventions.
@ShaneHeiman Aidan, thanks for asking “why’s it called a #showerHEAD, anyway?” Shower nose works just as well! Nice:) pic.twitter.com/r3ifQXyC0F
— Kohler Co. (@Kohler) May 6, 2015
And Angelo, with his overactive imagination.
@ShaneHeiman Angelo, we love your imagination! A dragon #shower would be fun and useful-he could hold the #shampoo… pic.twitter.com/0WlszGSEmx
— Kohler Co. (@Kohler) May 6, 2015
And Max, who loves his toys.
@ShaneHeiman Max, we bet @alextoys will LOVE your fun #showerhead idea. Way to think outside the box! pic.twitter.com/Tr2GJo0LS4
— Kohler Co. (@Kohler) May 6, 2015
And finally Thomas, who is giving some serious competition to Max above.
@ShaneHeiman Thomas, we bet @alextoys will appreciate your #showerhead concept, too! What a fun and #creative idea. pic.twitter.com/EbWTzVbxZ1
— Kohler Co. (@Kohler) May 6, 2015
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