Proposal #32: Rebranding our Activities.
I propose that CISV rebrands its programs and activities as follows:
- Villages: AWARENESS PROGRAM
- Summer Camps: LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
- Interchanges: UNDERSTANDING PROGRAM
- IYM: SHARING PROGRAM
- Seminar Camps: DISCUSSING PROGRAM
- IPP: EXPERIENCE PROGRAM
Rationale
Following the reasons behind the main rebranding process which CISV followed I believe that also the communication of the content of the programs and activites offered by the organization should be cleared. Moreover the organization should get rid of old names which purely identify the structure of the programs, and use the goal to identify them instead. This will allow as well a better unsderstanding for people outside the organization about the skills we deliver.
Respectfully delivered, Teo (ITA)
7 Comments:
Hi,
I don't agree with this at all. This seems to me that in a Village you do nothing but train awareness and that it is not an experience (cause that would be IPP - and so on and so forth) This approach seems to me much too narrow minded, uncreative and technical. I like the names, because they are descriptive, but also have an history to them.
Cheers
Bastian
Apart from that MOSAIC is not even mentioned in here, I agree with Bastian... I think that taglines would really do it (since the CISV tagline does not at all hit what our programmes are aiming at).
Cheers
Babsi
I agree that a discussion and evaluation about the programme names would be useful – keeping in mind that the result should not be towards our members but for our potential members, NGO:s and other stakeholders.
My (small) problem with the names is that they are semi-generic. The names Village, Seminar camp, Summer camp, Interchange, Youth Meeting and International Peoples Project all include words that all, or very many, NGO:s use every day. (Mosaic on the other hand is a more specific name that will not easily be confused with any other more or less generic programs.)
But maybe the question should be why we have names for our programmes, or for whom they are.
I think, as with many other things in CISV, we have them for us CISVers rather that for the potential CISVer and other stakeholders. And if that’s the case, and that they only confuse the non-CISVer (since they don’t explain anything but rather give a wrong picture, i.e. “oh yes, I was at a seminar in school last week and I also did an international project with my hockey-team last summer in a camp meeting alot of youth”) shouldn’t they either be blank (i.e. the Pelican/Orange/Sun/Billy programme) or quite specific (i.e. the 11 year old programme).
the proposals comes from 2 types of issue we have with the actual names of the programs:
1) as Adam point out they are semi-generic and kind of similar to eachother: seminar, interchange, youth meeting, people project
2) some of them are just wrong: summer camp. does not make any sense to have "summer" camp in august for south hemisphere and vice versa
3) they confound people between name and goal. A village is not so for its 4 weeks or 12 delegations, it is so for what gives to those participants at the end of the camp
Therefore I'm really much in favor of a "blank" name for the programs as Adam point as an alternative (i.e. the Pelican/Orange/Sun/Billy program)...
So let's follow Mosaic example and find good names for all of them!
For the village a good example of going this way would be the ISLAND...
friendly agreement from Sarah accepted: no acronyms.
I don't think it's necessary to change names all that much. Most people, at least in The Netherlands, get to know about CISV from Word of Mouth - they hear about CISV from someone who has gone with the organization before. Changing the name into something else which might be more clear at the first time you hear it would have minimal extra effect to my beliefs.
What might help though is a clear description instead, in every language on the national CISV website. After hearing a positive story from someone who has gone on a camp with CISV before, they should be able to find more rich information about the organization. This is the place to put all the rationales and so on, for those who care.
I believe most people don't send their kids with CISV because of the rationales (it might be a second argument though), but because others have come back so enthusiastic and tell them about their experiences.
If names should be changed, I agree with Sarah; names should be changed into names that are easy to market.
Besides.. I was wondering why Village isn't already a "blank" name.
All the best and enjoy!
Thanks for bringing up this issue...
just a quick not about taglines (uff, that word!)... I am not a marketing expert at all, but so far we have been hearing again and again that taglines do NOT need to express everything of what village or IC are...
Nokia.. connecting people
nike... just do it)
Then, I would not be in favour of making pelican-billy names... already the scouts use this terminology and:
- understanding is exclusive
- in my point of view it sounds more sectarian (so do scout names)
Sorry about referring to boy scouts in case anyone is fond on them!
Post a Comment
<< Home