The other day, I drove past a hair salon that had a large sign. It read “BAD HAIR DAYS FIXED HERE! WALK-INS WELCOME.” For some reason, it tickled me. I thought it was a clever message to encourage the public to come in and get their hair cut, or in this case fixed. I started to think about some of the messages I have seen on school signs and to be honest, they were not that clear nor clever.
If we take the similar idea behind the hair salon’s message, we might make our school message say something like “SUPPORT FOR LEARNING FOUND HERE!” or “BUILD YOUR FUTURE STARTING HERE!”. I kind of like this idea of laying out what we, as educators, really want to do here. Teachers, counselors, faculty, and administrators wear many hats. At the end of the day, both messages don’t just say that school is a place for work and grades. No, the messages evoke the idea that when you walk in this building, our employees are here to help you get to where you need to go.
I recently picked up the book Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message so Customers will Listen by Donald Miller. I am always thinking about branding for schools and education in general. The biggest mistake companies or entities make is that they don’t have a clear message. K.I.S.S. -Keep it simple, Stupid (let me tell you how many times I must repeat this statement to myself).
Donald begins the book by explaining his discovery of including people in the story of your product or service in order to get greater participation and buy-in. He uses the example of Apple and how originally Steve Jobs did not understand the importance of creating an element of inclusion into his brand. Jobs thought that his computers would sell themselves because he described all their technical features. In other words, if you were not a computer guru in the 1980’s, you probably didn’t think his product was for you. And at the time, Jobs was probably ok with you making that assumption. Ironically though, he wanted to sell his computers. Guess what? Donald Miller explains that in the 80’s the Apple computer bombed.
Fast forward, Steve Jobs went to work with Pixar…you know the company that did Toy Story and Finding Nemo, just to name a few. When he returned to Apple, he had grasped the idea that their needed to be an element to story telling in a company’s message. Apple’s new slogan was Think Differently. Simple and clear. I would even argue it was inviting and would make for a great school message.
I am going to leave you with a little bit of homework. Don’t worry, it should be easy. Go back to your school and/or your classroom and look around at the messages, both explicit and implicit. Try to look at your walls and words as a student, parent, or community member. Do you see what you think is clear and inviting? Until next time…
See You Real Soon,
Erin
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