EXAMINING THE NEW PHENOMENON OF TEACHERS AS BRAND AMBASSADORS Christopher M. Saldaña, Kevin G. Welner, Susan Malcolm, & Eleanore Tisch University of Colorado Boulder January 2019 National Education Policy Center School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO 80309-0249 (802) 383-0058 nepc.colorado.edu Acknowledgements NEPC Staff Kevin Welner Project Director William Mathis Managing Director Peter Greene Academic Editor Alex Molnar Publications Director Suggested Citation: Saldaña, C.M., Welner, K.G., Macolm, S. & Tisch, E. (2018). Examining the New Phenomenon of Teachers as Brand Ambassadors. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/brand-ambassador. Peer Review: Examining the New Phenomenon of Teachers as Brand Ambassadors was double-blind peer-reviewed. This brief is produced by the Commercialism in Education Research Unit. This publication is provided free of cost to NEPC’s readers, who may make non-commercial use of it as long as NEPC and its author(s) are credited as the source. For inquiries about commercial use, please contact NEPC at
[email protected]. http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/brand-ambassador 2 of 23 EXAMINING THE NEW PHENOMENON OF TEACHERS AS BRAND AMBASSADORS Christopher M. Saldaña, Kevin G. Welner, Susan Malcolm, & Eleanore Tisch University of Colorado Boulder January 2019 Executive Summary Within-school marketing has a new twist, and teachers are at the center. Corporate firms, particularly those with education technology products, have contracted with teachers to be- come so-called brand ambassadors. A brand ambassador is an individual who receives some form of compensation or perk in exchange for the endorsement of a product.