I think the best taglines capture the true positioning of a company, but of course in a catchy way, not something dry and clinical.
- "Tastes great, less filling" was perfect in its day for Miller Lite, and it was nothing short of revolutionary when the beer came out, at a time when no self-respecting man would allow himself to touch a "diet" drink, let alone a diet beer. The idea of having jocks fight over the slogan made it all the better -- but only because the slogan perfectly fit the new marketing niche that Lite beer was going for.
A few more I like that fit their company's marketing strategy and positioning (at least at the time of deployment):
- "Southwest Airlines - A Symbol of Freedom." A well-known variant used on their TV ads is, "You are now free to move about the country." In either use, this tagline perfectly captures Southwest's mission to make airline travel affordable for the masses.
- "Coke - The Real Thing." What could better capture a firm's positioning as the authentic first product in its category? This was also a nice return from the short-lived disaster of New Coke.
- "The Pepsi Generation." With all due respect to Coke, this tagline was sheer brilliance. Seeing no way to make a definitive inroad with people of my generation, who preferred "the real thing," Pepsi took a long-term marketing strategy of going after Generations X and Y. It has been paying off handsomely and will probably do so for years -- and it spawned Coke's defensive reaction of "C2" which will probably be another disaster along the lines of New Coke.
- "The Un-Cola." Again, what great positioning this was for 7-Up. It captured the axiom in marketing strategy that it is often best (and necessary) to zig when they zag if you have any prayer of distinguishing yourself in the market.
- "Ideas with Impact" is the tagline of the Harvard Business Review. While the HBR doesn't hold a candle to Lite beer for brand-name recognition, it is the gold standard for relevant business research within its specialized, highly paid niche audience, and this is a very good tagline that has stood the test of time.
Okay, in closing, what about B@se's controversial tagline:
- "Better Sound Through Research." Is this good? One can't deny that it is effective, and not just for first-time buyers. I personally know two repeat buyers (older men with lots of expendable cash both of whom, I kid you not, have serious hearing problems) who have fallen for this slogan through several thousand dollars of expenditures on B@$* over several years. While the tagline is effective, however, I don't think it's good, in that it does not match the true positioning of the company, which could perhaps be better described as, "Puffery Through Marketing," or "Better Sound Through Pyscho-Acoustic Brainwashing."
Just my .02.
Birdman
