Robert J. Smith, BBA, MBA, MFA, Ph.D., is a business consultant and founder of Robert J. Smith Productions and Smith Profits.
Most people are unaware that one of television’s most influential and prolific writers, Rod Serling, the creator of “The Twilight Zone,” also wrote influential films such as “Patterns,” “Seven Days in May,” “Planet of the Apes” and “Requiem for a Heavyweight.” The IMDb logline for the latter film is “Knockout performances by Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney and Julie Harris highlight this hard-hitting drama of corruption in the ring.” The 1962 movie also had many taglines, including:
• The World of “Mountain” Riviera…The Fast Buck…The Angry Men…The Lonely Women!
• The Gutsiest Picture Ever Made!
• They beat him…they broke him…they betrayed him…but they could not crush the towering dignity of a real fighter!
Of course, a requiem is a memorial, a remembrance of something that is no more. One of the greatest advertising tactics in the history of business—taglines—is something that has been forgotten by many of today’s businesses, especially smaller businesses. I believe forgetting business taglines and campaign slogans can be a major mistake.
Well-Known Business Taglines
One of the world’s most iconic brands, Coca-Cola, has had nearly 50 taglines to date. Being a home market merchandiser, a.k.a. route truck delivery driver for Coke in my youth, my personal favorites are “It’s the Real Thing” “Coke is It!” and “The Pause That Refreshes” Of course, there are other taglines that businesses have scored knockouts with, including:
• I Can’t Believe I Ate the Whole Thing (Alka Seltzer)
• It’s not easy bein’ cheesy (Cheetos)
• When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. (FedEx)
• Leave the Driving to Us (Greyhound)
• When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best (Hallmark)
• It Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking (Timex)
• Save Money. Live Better. (Walmart)
As you can see from these examples, the most effective taglines are catchy and memorable. What is the tagline for your business? Do you have one? If not, there is no time like the present.
Creating Your Business Tagline
When I wrote the screenplay, “Everything is Temporary”(which eventually became “The Junior Partner”) I had my protagonist, Champ Mitchell speak the phrase, “Everything is Temporary,” and it made me wonder what name had been given to that literary device. As I completed my Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts at Full Sail University simultaneously with my Feature Film Writing degree program at UCLA, I asked every professor at each college. I was shocked to discover that no one had ever given a name to it. So, I took it upon myself to do so.
I run all of my taglines, slogans and ad copy by my co-producer and screenplay editor, Sharon Roznowski. She helped me coin the term “title punch” to describe when a movie title is spoken or otherwise shown in a film. Further research shows that our instincts to coin the term “title punch” were on the nose. Tagline, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “a reiterated phrase identified with an individual, group or product.” Slogan, on the other hand, is “a final line (as in a play or joke), especially one that serves to clarify a point or create a dramatic effect.”
The title punch at the end of the Edmond O’Brien 1949 classic “D.O.A.” did exactly that as it clarified the theme, title and point of the entire film with the final words spoken by actor Roy Engel. After a deputy asked him, “How shall I make out the report on him, captain?” Engel’s character, a homicide detective, replies, “Better make it ‘dead on arrival.'” Director Rudolph Maté even gave it the one-two title punch when he followed those last words with a visual of a hand stamping the letters D.O.A. onto the police report.
The primary reason that I added the word “punch” to the title when any one of a number of other words would do is that I felt that when you hear or see the title of a movie in a movie, it should have significance. It should feel as if it hit you right in the face. A great business tagline should do the same! It should let your customers know what you can do for them, and it should stake your claim to your market share. Your tagline should be bold.
At my company, our tagline is “Hammering Out Profits for Your Business.” Our tagline was easy to come up with as a blacksmith or “smithy” is our mascot across all of our brands and appears in all of our logos. Another example: When we formed Robert J. Smith Productions, we came up with the tagline, “Have a Productive Day!” We use it in all forms of communication that we have with our clients, vendors and strategic partners, and it’s amazing how many referrals we receive simply because our e-mail signatures close with our tagline. The same strategy can work for your company as well. To create effective taglines, simply develop short statements that fit with your company’s core products and services. Also, think about statements that blend well with your logos and other images. Then, use it everywhere. Once you’ve developed an optimal tagline for your business, you are also halfway to creating an effective jingle for use on your website and in radio and television commercials.
I’ll leave you with two taglines from professional boxers who went into business for themselves after they retired from the ring: In promoting his fitness program, “Lightning” Lloyd Ellett borrows a popular saying among United States Navy Seals: “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.” In selling the George Foreman Grill, “Big” George Foreman said, “It’s so good I put my name on it!”
Whether you hire a PR firm or any advertising agency or you simply brainstorm with your associates, family, or friends, I think you’ll see your business improve with a great tagline. You don’t have to be Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney or Julie Harris to create a “knockout performance.” You don’t have to be Rod Serling to create a heavyweight tagline. In the words of Nike: “Just Do It!”
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