| When Bobby Fluke inherited his father's business, he | | | | task. But here are five steps towards making it |
| decided the company needed a good tag line. But | | | | easier. |
| what can you do with Fluke Transportation? | | | | 1) Brainstorm |
| As it turns out, a lot. | | | | What does your company do? What do you want |
| Tag lines are an extremely effective means of | | | | people to remember about you? Other businesses |
| promoting recognition of your product or service. | | | | are doing exactly the same thing you're doing: what |
| "Melt in your mouth, not in your hand." "Just do it." | | | | makes you different? Don't forget to listen to your |
| "The quicker picker-upper." "You deserve a break | | | | repeat customers: they're the ones who know why |
| today." For most people, these phrases are | | | | they keep coming back to you. |
| synonymous with their brands: M&Ms, Nike, | | | | 2) Clarify |
| Bounty, and McDonald's. | | | | Take the best, most specific ideas you've come up |
| There are four elements to a good tag line: | | | | with and try turning them into slogans of ten words |
| | | | or less. If a pun suggests itself, play around with it; |
| 1. It should be short. | | | | but remember -- even the best pun can get old |
| 2. It should say something specific about your | | | | pretty fast. Or maybe you can hitch a ride with an |
| business or product. | | | | expression already in common use. Behr paints used |
| 3. It should stick in the customer's mind. | | | | something we all learned in grade school -- the |
| 4. It should be used in every aspect of your public | | | | conjugation of superlatives, "good, better, best" -- to |
| communications. One of the most common mistakes | | | | create a clever, and easily remembered tag line |
| is to create a tag line so abstract it could apply to | | | | spotlighting their reputation for excellence: "Good - |
| almost anything. Consider the following real examples | | | | Better - Behr." |
| for companies in vastly different industries: | | | | 3) Test |
| - "Create. Organize. Share. Connect." | | | | Once you have two or three tag lines that seem to |
| - "Experience. Share. Connect." | | | | work, try them out on friends, family, and customers. |
| - "Connect. Share. Live." | | | | See which gets the best reaction, then refine it. |
| - "Create. Share. Connect." One of them is for a | | | | After that, refine it some more. |
| company that deals with maps -- can you tell which? | | | | 4) Use it |
| Not that it matters: the word strings are so random | | | | Once you have your tag line, use it. Put it on your |
| that nobody's ever going to remember them. | | | | stationary, your vehicles, your website, and of |
| But making a coherent tag line isn't enough: it must | | | | course, your advertisements. (But not your telephone |
| also resonate with your product or service. "The | | | | greetings: people calling your company are looking for |
| quicker picker-upper" makes sense for a paper towel | | | | service, not commercials.) |
| that gets rid of spills quickly, and an athletic shoe, by | | | | 5) Stick with it |
| its very nature, is urging the wearer to "just do it." | | | | Switching tag lines every couple of months is not an |
| Another common mistake is to make unwarranted | | | | effective branding technique. Specific campaigns may |
| and exaggerated claims. You don't call yourself the | | | | require specific tag lines, but for the core brand, your |
| "best," "greatest," "unsurpassed," or "pre-eminent" | | | | slogan should be virtually inviolate. Admittedly, |
| without solid proof to back it up. Budweiser began | | | | sometimes change is necessary, but it should never |
| billing themselves as the "King of Beers" only after | | | | be done because you or your advertising agency has |
| capturing more than 50% of the American beer | | | | grown bored. And if you need inspiration, just |
| market. | | | | remember Bobby Fluke. Bobby had no training in |
| Yes, there are many potential mistakes in creating a | | | | marketing, lacked experience in PR, and was saddled |
| tag line, and there are many companies making them; | | | | with the name Fluke; yet despite these handicaps, he |
| but that means if you do it right, you've put yourself | | | | created one of the best tag lines in trucking history: |
| head-and-shoulders above the competition. Creating | | | | "If it's on time, it's a Fluke." Now go ahead -- I dare |
| an effective, memorable tag line can be a daunting | | | | you to forget that one. |
