A terrific tag line sets you apart from other businesses and
provides a memorable and appealing reason to choose your firm
over other options. The tag line should trail your company
name like a shadow everywhere - in ads, on your web site,
on business cards and in on-hold telephone messages, to name
a few places.
Before assessing your own tag line, warm up by looking at
a category of Yellow Pages ads or flip through your local
business paper. First, you'll undoubtedly notice an epidemic
of companies whose tag lines are missing in action. Rate those
you do see from the viewpoint of a potential customer.
Here's my ten-spot workout from looking at ads in BusinessWest,
the twice-monthly paper covering Western Massachusetts business.
5 points - honest.expert.driven
This ad featured a picture of a vintage Cadillac, compounding
my confusion about what kind of business this is. 5 points
does not do car repair, however. It creates custom web-based
applications. So thumbs down; the business name and tag
line together should make it crystal clear what the company
does.
Charter Business - The Way Business Works not as
misleading as #1, yet the tag line is just too vague to
help the reader understand what line of business this firm
is in, much less why one should select them over competitors.
Spa on the Green - Organic Skin Care & Body
Treatments Nicely specific. I know what they do and how
they differ from other spas. If they're not the only spa
in the area featuring organic products, though, this tag
line isn't distinct enough.
Richard A. McCullough, Inc. -Building Homes
of Distinction Since 1953
We know this is a high-end residential builder with more
than 50 years of experience. The tag line could have a little
pizzazz to be more appealing, but it gets a passing grade.
Southbridge Savings Bank -Preserving the past,
building for the future. Since 1848
Although there's a nice ring to this one, from the customer's
point of view it's not clear why we should care about the
architectural consciousness alluded to in the tag line.
Preserving whose past? Its own? Downtown Southbridge's?
Not quite on target.
PeoplesBank - Great relationships start here.
Oh, so if I'm looking for romance, I should get a job at
PeoplesBank? Do they have a matchmaking service? This tag
line too doesn't narrow in enough on the types of images evoked.
Wolf & Company, P.C., Certified Public Accountants
and Business Consultants -Insight and Integrity
What a sad commentary on today's business environment, when
a CPA firm feels the need to say that it has integrity.
Even so, honesty and integrity are qualities that no company
can ever credibly claim about itself. Only third parties
can attest to an individual's or company's moral virtues.
In addition, when you bring up integrity as an issue, you
get customers thinking about complications you don't want them to be pondering while considering hiring
you.
Mercy Medical Center -Our mission is to heal.
Our passion is to care.
Rah-rah! Mission statements should be used to rally your
own troops, not to motivate customers. The people you serve
don't care about your aspirations, only about the benefits
you actually deliver. So for the target market, this tag line evokes skepticism.
Springfield Day Nursery -Early Care and Education
at its Best... Since 1883.
This tag line was so startling that I looked very closely
to see if I had read the date correctly. I rate this tag
line highly because as a whole, it sparks curiosity. As
a potential day care parent, I'd want to know more about
this place and how it's survived and updated its care for
kids over such a long period of time.
Westbank - On your corner. In your corner. Finally,
a winner. This tag line is crisp, snazzy and persuasive.
It gives me a memorable rationale for choosing this bank
over competitors.
Now that I'm all warmed up from assessing tag lines, it's
your turn!
Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity
and ten other books hailed for outstanding creativity. Find
out more about her new discount naming company, Named At Last,
which brainstorms new company names, new product names, tag
lines and more for cost-conscious organizations, at www.NamedAtLast.com
