So today we’ve been thinking about taglines for involver.
Up until now, we’ve gone with ‘engage, impact, enjoy’, which I think is good, but most people have said that it doesn’t actually say what we do. Fair point, so we’re having a bit of a rethink….
Companies employ shiny PR companies to spend months, and thousands of pounds, on a single line of text in taglines. I guess it’s to get the words, and the feeling that those words create, right. I wonder how much McDonalds spent to come up with those three words – ‘I’m lovin’ it!’.
Due to a lack of time, not to mention money, Asher and I have been working on ideas today. This is the list we’ve got so far:
- involver : we do whole-school pupil voice for fun
- involver : fun and effective whole-school pupil voice
- involver: helping schools with fun, sustainable and active pupil voice for all
- involver: helping schools with fun and effective whole-school pupil voice
- involver: helping schools to enjoy active and effective pupil voice for all
- involver: helping schools to enjoy effective whole-school pupil voice
- involver: beyond school councils
- involver: going beyond school councils
- involver: inspiring school councils and more
- involver: beyond pupil voice
- involver: fun, effective, whole-school pupil voice
- involver: smart school councils
- involver: inspiring fun and effective pupil voice for all
- involver: inspiring fun, effective pupil voice for all
- involver: activating pupil voice through school councils
- involver: inspiring pupil voice through school councils
Issues:
- We want to focus on pupil voice because it is not prescriptive about the way schools should approach this. However, if we focus on that, then we lose the school councils niche. 95% of schools have them, and there’s a fair proportion that want to improve them. On the flip sude, if we focus on school councils too much, then it looks like we’re telling schools what to do, and not helping them to find a pupil voice model that works for them.
- My favourites are probably 3 or 13. Although with 3, there’s a worry that ‘helping’ isn’t strong enough. And with 13, is it clear enough? And do we need the ‘and’ compared to 14? So confused!
Either way, what do you all think? Leave a comment below.
It would be great to hear from you on what you think is best – teachers feel free to ask your pupils. If you think of a completely new one, or a combination of the above, let us know! We’re trying to think short, snappy and clear – but they are always the hardest!
Greg :)
#1 by Jade on 02/09/2009 - 5:49 pm
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I'm liking 9 and 10, maybe a combo? Or is that a big of a mouthful.
#2 by Matt on 02/09/2009 - 7:29 pm
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How about, "making active pupil voice fun and effective" or "supporting pupil participation to be effective and fun", you could add 'for all' on the end of either of those ones.
I think you should broaden your strap line beyond school councils. Pupil voice includes all school councils, but school councils doesn't include all pupil voice. Similarly I prefer 'effective' over 'sustainable', as surely being effective means it's also sustainable.
Also I don't really like the term 'pupil voice' that much even though it is a broadly accepted term, it sounds limiting and consultative to me, maybe 'active pupil voice' is ok, but I prefer 'participation'.
You did ask!
#3 by chloe on 02/09/2009 - 7:53 pm
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i like 13
says what it does on the tin
xx
#4 by Melodie on 02/09/2009 - 8:09 pm
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I like 13:
involver: inspiring fun and effective pupil voice for all
#5 by Lydz on 02/09/2009 - 8:10 pm
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I second Chloe. That's the best way to get the fun thing in. x
#6 by Joe on 02/09/2009 - 9:03 pm
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Hi guys,
I think the key with taglines is to be short and snappy. 3 and 13 sound like great components of a mission statement, but the tagline should really be shorter. Do you guys have a mission statement yet?
My suggestion is a variation on 16:
Involver: inspiring pupil voice
Joe
#7 by Asher on 02/09/2009 - 10:38 pm
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Thanks Joe, that's a really good one.
You're right,whatever it is has to be concise. I've been trying to persuade Greg that 'and' (whilst grammatically correct) gets in the way.
I'm also not keen on 'helping' or 'supporting' – what else are we going to be doing 'undermining', 'destroying'?
'inspiring' is a lot more positive though.
Thanks for all the suggestions; keep them coming.
#8 by Kai on 03/09/2009 - 7:10 am
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Joe's right, tagline needs to be short. I like his "inspiring pupil voice".
Or maybe something like "promoting [pupil] participation".
Or "pupil voice counts" or "participation matters".
#9 by Andy M on 03/09/2009 - 6:22 pm
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Good work guys.
I like 12 and 16, but would something like "smart school councils, pupil[s'] voices" work?
Using a comma instead of an "and" works well on news website headlines but not sure if it's best for a tagline…
#10 by Macca on 03/09/2009 - 8:37 pm
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Joe's tag is excellent, I agree. I have to say though that yesterday, when I read this before all these comments, I found the term "pupil voice" a little weird. Not sure if there's an alternative, maybe kai has a good start with participation? Inspiring pupil paticipation or something similar?
Like that one best, but if you feel you need the school councils bit too 16 is good.
#11 by Asher on 03/09/2009 - 8:44 pm
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My friend Tammy from http://www.twotimesfour.co.uk says:
"I love the name and really like some of the straplines you have come up with, my preferred are:
involver: smart school councils
involver: inspiring fun, effective pupil voice for all
involver: inspiring pupil voice through school councils
what about involver: inspiring school councils
I like the in.. and in.. words repeating."
How about this one (from me, not Tammy):
involver: smart school councils, inspiring pupil voice
#12 by Stephen Collins on 04/09/2009 - 7:19 am
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Hey Asher
I think it needs to be short, but it's 'pupil voice' that sounds a bit naff to me – it sounds too jargon-y and trendy, and therefore easy to dismiss as waffle. I much prefer Macca's – inspiring pupil participation. This makes more sense cos the first thing I thought was, you can't really inspire a voice.
#13 by Stephen Collins on 04/09/2009 - 7:22 am
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Or Kai's is good – participation matters…
#14 by Shez on 10/09/2009 - 10:41 am
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Hello!
Hmm, I agree that it needs to be short and snappy. I like 'Inspiring Pupil Voice' too… so long as the mission statement or other blurb defines what you mean my this (inspiring is a tough thing to do!).
Whilst it's not all about school councils – surely you need some clear reference either to school councils or even just schools so that the school councils audience aren't alienated. Not sure how you get round this though….
#15 by Greg on 14/09/2009 - 2:09 pm
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Double thanks for all the comments, guys.
Very helpful in moving us forward – we've gone with Joe's great tagline for now. I like open source! We're thinking of a twin tagline with 'smart school councils' and think that a well-designed logo might make this possible, without looking too confused.
Agree with the jargon problems with the term 'pupil voice' that Stephen and Macca identified. Problem is – it's widely understood and recognised (important) by young people, teachers, local authorities and Government. Bit confused about this, because if it's widely undersood, does it still make it jargon?
I can see how it sounds that way though – quite a warm and fluffy phrase. Shez – I agree that the mission statement is key to firming that up/making it clearer.
Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to comment. It's much appreciated!