Rose Pest Solutions has been an industry leader since 1860. Relationships over the last 160 years with Rose’s employees, clients, and partners are built on integrity, passion for education and science, and unmatched service quality. From pioneer chemist days when Solomon Rose formulated phosphorous paste to control rats and cockroaches to the “Going Green” movement that reformulated methods and products that the pest industry uses today, Rose continues to explore and implement creative ideas that no other pest companies have explored. 

The Foundation

• Empower all walks of life 

Rose has joined forces with dozens of partners that believe in this mission, and share in that passion. Communities all throughout Chicagoland and Southern Wisconsin have been enhanced by unexpected, creative marketing tactics that have left lasting impressions on all age groups since 2010. It’s a unique way to look at advertising a business that has such an amazing history. It’s not about an ad in a newspaper or commercials on the radio. Sometimes it’s not even about bugs at all. 

Many of Rose Pest Solutions’ employees and customers have families with kids, they rely on affordable entertainment, and enjoy cheering on their favorite local sports teams. Rose’s Marketing Team was inspired by this, which sparked some great initial sponsorship discussions. Rose has been corporate partners with the Chicago Wolves Hockey Team since 2016 and Northwestern University Athletics since 2018. Choosing banner ads, dasher boards, and traditional ad tactics just weren’t going to be enough for Rose’s ideas for loyal fans, friends and family.

Enter Bernie’s Book Bank: An organization in Lake Bluff, IL, that sources, processes and distributes books to under-served children throughout Chicagoland. Brian Floriani, the Founder of Bernie’s Book Bank, is a dear friend of several employees at Rose Pest Solutions. He and his team believe that reading is the single most important skill a child needs in order to contribute and function competently within our society. Rose supports Bernie’s Book Bank and all the amazing things they do for our communities.

Defining Corporate Partnerships

So, what happens when you introduce local sports to local charities? Rose Pest Solutions experienced something like this: A brainstorm of positivity, a ton of hard work coordinating logistics to make the dream turn into a reality, and overwhelming positive results from all the new friends we’ve made. 

“Rose is a living example of a true corporate partner”, said Sarna Goldenberg, Director of Marketing and Communications for Bernie’s Book Bank. “We are grateful for their innovative approach to collaboration and generous support for the under-served children who receive our books.”

For the last three hockey seasons, Rose Pest Solutions and the Chicago Wolves have been “Saving Literacy” throughout Chicagoland with several creative tactics in play. Oscar Dansk, goalie for the Chicago Wolves 2019-2020, had 18 winning games last season. Rose donated $100 per win to Bernie’s Book Bank during the season. In addition, to promote “Kids Helping Kids”, Rose and the Wolves held an All-School Book Drive contest for “School Game Day” where about 10,000 kids filled the seats at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL. Contributions from staff, fans, teachers, and interest for future donations were overwhelmingly positive. Today, several of Rose Pest Solutions’ branch locations are official Book Donation Drop Off sites for Bernie’s Book Bank. Throughout the year, contests are held to incentivize participants with various prizes in exchange for their good deeds. 

“We’re thrilled to continue our long standing relationship with Rose Pest Solutions.  From the onset, our values aligned by striving to have a positive community impact through our partnership.  The ability to fold Bernie’s Book Bank into the mix created an opportunity for everyone involved to help drive the mission forward.  The impact of making literacy, books and education more available in our communities will be felt for years to come and we’re proud to share in the effort with Rose Pest Solutions and Bernie’s Book Bank. We’re all in this together and the Wolves are elated to be working with such wonderful partners.” said Jon Sata, Senior Vice President for the Chicago Wolves.

Friends at Northwestern University Athletics, and the Men’s Basketball team, were thrilled to partner with Rose Pest Solutions after seeing their success. Rose was looking to reach more families in an audience that they knew would be familiar, loyal, and open to supporting our communities (many customers are Northwestern Alumni or have children attending the University). After many creative meetings, “Books for Buckets” was born in 2018.

Books for Buckets’ success this past season eclipsed 2018’s numbers in terms of participation and engagement. Northwestern University’s Books for Buckets has several tactics working together to maximize team efforts. Northwestern Staff and fan book donations were steady all season long. Plus, for every three-pointer made during the 2019-2020 men’s basketball season, Rose donated a set of books through Bernie’s Book Bank. Elementary school book drives and contests in School District 26 brought in thousands of book donations, showing us how thoughtful kids can truly be when it comes to helping other kids. 

“Creating platforms to improve the local community is not only an integral part of our partnership, it’s also being a good neighbor. From the very first meeting, serving the Chicagoland area, and making a difference, was a top priority for both organizations.” – Mike Gordon, General Manager, Northwestern Sports Properties. 

Planning Positivity 

10,000 book donations in a single basketball season was an inspirational milestone. Although basketball games will look different during the 2020-2021 season, Rose Pest Solutions and Northwestern University are excited for this year’s adaptation of the Books for Buckets program. This season, the program has been designed to reach more people in the community and to encourage elementary school kids to read who are back in school, in hybrid classes or e-learning. Together with Culver’s and Chick-fil-A, Northwestern University Athletics and Rose Pest Solutions will award participants for reading specific numbers of books. The reading program debuted October 5th, 2020. 

Communities need positivity now more than ever. Rose Pest Solutions is putting smiles on faces all throughout Chicagoland. Rose is redefining marketing by facilitating education-centric family fun with their corporate partners. Team work makes the dream work. And in this case, everyone wins!