"Making it easy for you to go places!" said one staffer.  "Going Places Fast!" said another.   I had to step in when one of them shouted "Green means Go!" (the National Car rental slogan). Sheesh - at this point I had to step in...

"You already have a slogan"  I said.  "We need something snappy for this ad", they all complained. 

I understand their dilemma - they are bored (already) with the advertising campaign that we've recently created for them.  I am too!  But we've been living and breathing this campaign for the past several months of development - who wouldn't be sick of it?

But their customer base hasn't been sufficiently exposed to it.  Their customer base is surely NOT sick of it and won't be for some time - in fact since the campaign is so new, there is a good chance none of them have seen it yet.

Any Advertising 101 student knows that the key to any campaign is repetition.  If this campaign isn't repeatedly presented to their customer base, it has no hope for success, no matter how catchy the phrase, how colorful the imagery. They aren't alone, most clients just don't get the concept of a SINGLE slogan.  Some of them truly use five or ten different tag lines for different ads - diluting their message and sabotaging their own marketing efforts.

I get this every day, regular folks trying to come up with catchy slogans and tag lines for their small to mid sized businesses.  They have no idea how much thought and planning good ad campaigns, slogans and tag lines require, so they end up pirating what they hear on TV and radio - copying tag lines from the big box companies, and getting lost in the "slogan pollution" that we all see and hear every day.

It's a lot like studying for a test - how do you make the concepts that your're trying to learn stick in your head? You repeat them over and over until they are committed to memory. It's the same concept here, concentrate on ways to take your one solid message and deliver it to a broad range of your client base, over and over in as many different media and venues as possible. This will reinforce that message and make both the message and the company brand identity that is delivering that message memorable.

And please, I beg you - don't use “For all you XYZ needs.” or “From concept to Completion.” or any other tired, stale regurgitation of an already overused slogan.

Don't use a meaningless slogan that has little to do with your message or your business. And whatever you do, don't use a slogan pirated from a well known national brand. If in doubt - use your logo with no sub copy at all - it's a much better message to send than the message that you are an unoriginal copycat. If you are a small to mid sized company and you want to look like a big fish - think about consolidating your slogans, tag lines, ad campaigns, imagery and advertising.  Boil it down to one message that you present to the world, clearly and cleanly - over and over again.  That's what works, "Just do it."**

**("Just do it." It's one of the most famous and the most widely recognized slogan in advertising history. Coined at a 1988 meeting of Nike’s Ad agency; Wieden and Kennedy. The story goes... Dan Weiden, speaking of Nike’s can-do attitude, reportedly said to a group of the Nike employees: “You Nike guys, you just do it.” The rest, as they say, is advertising history.)

Copyright April 24, 2007 by Dawn Amato - Rudolph - Sidewalk Designs, Inc 

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