For Business Names And Tag Lines, Popularity Shouldn't Rule
Don't turn your search for the perfect name or tag line into a
popularity contest! Two instances of this have crossed my path
recently.
First, someone I know asked people to vote on the best title for
a forthcoming book. That's unwise, because what people say they
like in a book title:
* Doesn't necessarily distinguish the book from others * Isn't
necessarily clear, spellable and free of negative connotations *
Doesn't mean those who are the best audience for the book will
"get it" * Isn't always easy to remember and repeat * May not
perform well in search engines
Second, according to The New York Times, the state of New Jersey
put its prospective new tourism slogan to a vote. The winning
entry, "New Jersey: Come See for Yourself" received just a few
more votes than "New Jersey: The Best Kept Secret."
Both the winning and the runner-up New Jersey slogans flunk an
elementary test for the effectiveness of a tag line or slogan:
It should distinguish the company, or in this case the state,
from most or all others. Try this out yourself by plugging in
names of other states besides New Jersey - most of the time, the
slogan becomes no more and no less applicable. This means the
slogan cannot make a strong case for the Garden State. More
bluntly, it's mainly hot air.
The New Jersey contest had another serious flaw. To be eligible
to vote on the best slogan, you had to be a New Jersey resident.
While residents do have the greatest stake in improving the
reputation of their state, they by definition don't belong to
the target market of the tourism slogan. To understand what
would appeal most to non-New Jerseyans, don't look to New
Jerseyans en masse. Many will be clueless about this and get it
upside-down. Outsiders are the ones who need to understand the
slogan and respond.
I'll never forget an ad for a Great Plains software company that
obviously assumed that a photo of a flat-to-the-horizon
landscape without trees was an appealing image. For me, a
die-hard New Englander accustomed to heavily wooded hills, this
picture had the opposite effect - it filled me with horror.
Of course, someone who lives in New Jersey or North Dakota may
be perfectly capable of portraying their region appealingly to
outsiders. Instead of asking any group to vote on a winning name
or tag line, set up your contest so that people can submit
suggestions. Then have either one person or a committee cull the
entries according to a list of criteria drawn up beforehand.
By selecting and judging rather than mass voting, you're most
likely to end up with a name or slogan that wins over your
audience.