Taglines That Stick

Why do some brands stick in a consumer’s mind while others simply go unnoticed? One possible answer: taglines. A gripping tag can either turn you off on a product or retain you as a lifelong customer. At the very least, you’ll remember the tag line – and probably what it promotes.

Who can ever forget these iconic taglines?

Just Do It
“It is a call to action,” said Jeff Lapatine, group director of naming at New York- based Seigel + Gale, of Nike’s iconic tag line. “It is telling people to be athletic in a creative way. It doesn’t just tell you what the company does. Instead, it reminds you that you want to buy a pair of sneakers because you can do it.”

Membership has its Privileges
“People want to be members of something,” said Michael Russo, creative director of The Russo Group. “American Express’ former tag line was great. It played into the thought that when you have membership, you feel that you have arrived; that you are part of a club.”

Got Milk?
“When this campaign got going, consumers on a whole didn’t like milk,” said Jaci Russo. “But then, market research revealed that, when eating warm chocolate chip cookies or cereal, there is no other beverage that would cut it. The campaign came from a new connection with milk.”

So how can a small business create a memorable tag line?

Start with a statement of Intent
What is your company about? What is your competitive advantage? How are you going to use the tagline?

Know your audience
What do they love about your product? What do you want them to love about it?.”

Make it quick
It has to be short and sweet -- one simple idea that talks about the benefit of your company itself. Whittle it down to the simplest factor of your brand.

Be honest
Your tag line has to have truth to it. If It’s not believable and authentic, no one will buy it – literally. Avoid “the best” and “the most” even if you can prove it.

Be memorable
A tag line has to have buy-in for consumers to make a longtime investment in it. Over time, it has to become synonymous with the company’s identity.

Make it emotional
The most effective tag lines appeal to emotions rather than communicate benefits. Remember – you’re not selling. You’re branding and making a connection between your product or service and the consumer.

Here are some of our favorite taglines that we’ve come up with for clients:

Working hard to keep you working
St. Louis Staffing

Life without olives is the pits!
Extra Virgin, an Olive Ovation

There’s no place like Home Nursery
Home Nursery

Eat right, play with might, and sleep tight – to be big, healthy and strong
The Three Squares

The joys of living come with giving
Good Life Gifts

TAG – we’re it!
The Audit Group

Stylish spaces for little faces
The Three Little Ziglets

The REO Industry’s Best Friend
Continental REO Services

Making One Button Do It All
The SOHO Shop

Time for a brand makeover? Contact I. Salsman PR to help revitalize your brand in 2011.

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Social Marketing vs. Email marketing: Is It War?

As of today, there are 59,300 Google results for the exact search phrase “e-mail vs. social media.” Apparently it’s a hot topic and some people have declared war. It appears that the social-media mavens are already claiming victory by stating that “e-mail is dead.”

On the other hand, many (e-mail-marketing vendors in particular) have come to e-mail’s defense with a lot of data and pretty charts, claiming that e-mail and social media are two peas in a pod.

So what’s the real deal? Consider these factors:

Who is your target?

The demographics and psychographics are key to deciding whether to use social media or e-mail to reach your target. Often, you’ll want to use both.

• If your target is under 34 years old, you’re likely to be successful using social media. If your target is under 20 years old, you’ll probably need to reach them through social media almost exclusively.

• If your target is a business, e-mail will likely get you results faster. If your target is a consumer, you’ll get better results through a social media campaign where your target sees others singing your praises.

• If you’re targeting a person while they’re at work, e-mail is the answer (usually). If you’re targeting a person at home, social media can drive results.

What is your intent?

• If you’re trying to sell directly, social media probably isn’t the place for you. E-mail can work better.

• If you’re trying to build a long-term relationship, start with social media (but the relationship may move to e-mail).

• If you’re all about providing value, social media is probably the place for you.

• If you’re trying to communicate in a personal way, either can work (but e-mail is currently better at personalizing in bulk).

• If you need a quick response, it depends on your target. A teen will fire back a Facebook reply in seconds. A middle-aged cube monkey will reply by e-mail almost as fast. Both will fail in the other’s environment.

In the end, if you’re communicating with the intent to do business, e-mail is still the inner sanctum. Businesspeople still guard their e-mail more closely than they do their social profiles. So, if you want to do business with someone, use social media to get into their inbox. Either connect personally, or drive value to an opt-in form.

This is the general flow in our current times. This may change though. Right now, college grads are forced to adopt the e-mail world in business. But over time, their generation may change business to the degree that social media becomes their inner sanctum and e-mail is either a forgotten channel or becomes a channel that leads to the inner sanctum.

Remember, this isn’t necessarily a war. This is an evolution.