Celebrate Catholic Schools!

     Happy Catholic Schools Week 2007!

     That being said, I am launching an initiative to change "Catholic Schools Week" to something a little more positive!

     You're probably saying, "He's finally gone over the edge!"  Well, perhaps it's the Catholic School "Edge"ucation I had (come to think of it - The Catholic School Edge - there's a marketing tag line in there somewhere).

     One of the most poweful aspects of marketing is to connect seemingly incongruous ideas together to reinforce an image.  In the language of education, it's the same effect as connecting your right brain with your left brain.  If you want to describe your emotions (right brain) to someone so that they can be understood, create a word picture (left brain) for them to put them in the same frame of reference.  Understanding is genuinely fostered by using this technique.

     As for linking two incongruous ideas, the result can be powerful - both positively and negatively.  A positive example would be the marketing tag line "Uplifting" for a local ski resort that used that slogan several years ago.  The picture that accompanied the line was a ski lift - but the experience of spending time there would certainly be an "uplifting" one.

     May I be so bold as to suggest that "Catholic Schools Week" presents a negative image.  Not only is the celebration held in the dead of winter (forcing the rescheduling or cancellation of events in the various regions of our nation), but our culture's need for "headline news" has influenced the ways that messages are conveyed.  In this case, the phrase itself sounds exactly the same as if the printed words were "Catholic Schools Weak," its homonymic quality sending a subliminally perceptive, yet detrimental message - especially when the completely opposite result was intended.

     Consider other historic cultural celebrations that used to last only a week.  "Black History Week" used to be celebrated in the month of February.  It was not long before the celebration period was changed to "Black History Month."  Similarly, "Hispanic Heritage Week" used to be celebrated in March; soon after the first event, the celebration was extended to a month-long time period.

     A "Catholic Schools Month" would give ample oppotunities for recurring events as well, rather than trying to compact activities into a span of 7 days.  If a month is too long, then modify the headline-style phrase to "Celebrate Catholic Schools Week."   Great care must be taken, however, since a localization of the suggested phrase could also send the wrong message. "St. Polycarp Celebrates Catholic Schools Week" could give the impression that the school is glad that Catholic Schools are not strong.  Even a misplaced hyphen - "Celebrate - Catholic Schools Week" - could intensify the negativity.

     Therefore, this week, I encourage you to "Celebrate Catholic Schools," or, more appropriately, celebrate YOUR school!  Making the connections among your parents, parish and community on an on-going basis throughout the entire year strengthens your school's image as an asset to the community more than any week-long campaign will.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2007

Back to Marketing Matters Index