Deb McDermott | creative director & copywriter

EF Journal

FOR

EF Educational Tours


ROLE

Creative direction & copy


AWARDED

Hatch (back to back years)

When EF Educational Tours was facing an increasingly crowded market and needed to stand out, we took an entirely new tack—instead of directly selling educational travel programs to our audience of teachers, we opted to simply connect with them through our shared values.


My team and I spearheaded a new outreach channel with the EF Journal, a branded content magazine "for curious explorers," through which we celebrated and encouraged the pursuit of learning in unlikely places (including, ahem, travel). Each issue included long- and short-form editorial content, unique perspectives on travel, plenty of inspiration for the classroom, unexpected learning opportunities, the occasional product placement ad, and some fun Easter eggs sprinkled throughout.

I wrote this profile of Anthony Bourdain as the feature article in the inaugural issue

Ads within the magazine promote EF’s offerings