Driving down the M1 this morning I started looking at the straplines on the lorries. Within a few junctions I had passed examples of the good, the bad and the downright puzzling.
When It Really Matters
From TTX Warehousing and Distribution. Would any company say "Use us when it doesn't really matter"??!
........"it's personal"
This sounds more like a threat from this courier company! And the eight dots before the quotation marks are very odd.
Delivering the promise
From Automatic Refreshments, a vending supplier. An attempt to promote the benefits of their service rather than just the features but rather bland and leaves it vague as to what was promised.
As to the better ones, Gee Force Logistics use The Power To Deliver which makes good use of the pun in their name and I like Travis Perkins' lorries that say Built for the Trade which sounds confident and rugged.
So that got me thinking about what makes a good strapline. Ideally you want something that captures your brand values, has an emotional tug and is memorable. Not much to ask! It is not surprising that you often see tired phrases such as these:
The winning team
Tried, tested, trusted
Making a difference
Working together
Yawn, yawn.
One of the best I can remember from years ago was for Batchelors' Cup-A-Soup - A Hug in a Mug. Brilliant, encompassing cosiness, warmth and comfort, just what you want from soup. Interestingly this phrase was the subject of a legal battle in 2013 when Rekitt Benckiser Healthcare Ltd applied to register it as a trade mark for their brand Lemsip. A trademark adjudicator ruled that they could both use the phrase as they were sold for different purposes in different shops.
Why bother with a strapline?
You don't have to have a strapline but they can be very useful, for example if your company name does not immediately give a clue as to the nature of your business. If you are called CTP Ltd then a line that says Construction and Building Maintenance will help people work out what you do. If you are called CTP Construction Ltd then you can say something else such as Better Buildings for Nottinghamshire.
Let me know your favourite straplines, and any you see that don't work.
Blog keywords: #straplines, #copywriting, #slogans, #advertising, #marketing, #transport
When It Really Matters
From TTX Warehousing and Distribution. Would any company say "Use us when it doesn't really matter"??!
........"it's personal"
This sounds more like a threat from this courier company! And the eight dots before the quotation marks are very odd.
Delivering the promise
From Automatic Refreshments, a vending supplier. An attempt to promote the benefits of their service rather than just the features but rather bland and leaves it vague as to what was promised.
As to the better ones, Gee Force Logistics use The Power To Deliver which makes good use of the pun in their name and I like Travis Perkins' lorries that say Built for the Trade which sounds confident and rugged.
So that got me thinking about what makes a good strapline. Ideally you want something that captures your brand values, has an emotional tug and is memorable. Not much to ask! It is not surprising that you often see tired phrases such as these:
The winning team
Tried, tested, trusted
Making a difference
Working together
Yawn, yawn.
One of the best I can remember from years ago was for Batchelors' Cup-A-Soup - A Hug in a Mug. Brilliant, encompassing cosiness, warmth and comfort, just what you want from soup. Interestingly this phrase was the subject of a legal battle in 2013 when Rekitt Benckiser Healthcare Ltd applied to register it as a trade mark for their brand Lemsip. A trademark adjudicator ruled that they could both use the phrase as they were sold for different purposes in different shops.
Why bother with a strapline?
You don't have to have a strapline but they can be very useful, for example if your company name does not immediately give a clue as to the nature of your business. If you are called CTP Ltd then a line that says Construction and Building Maintenance will help people work out what you do. If you are called CTP Construction Ltd then you can say something else such as Better Buildings for Nottinghamshire.
Let me know your favourite straplines, and any you see that don't work.
Blog keywords: #straplines, #copywriting, #slogans, #advertising, #marketing, #transport
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