Your Tagline Could Be Worth Millions
You’re a managed service provider. You’ve got a solid company name but you don’t have a solid tagline. That could be a big mistake. In the age of search engine optimization, I believe a strong tagline could be worth millions of dollars in new sales and market capitalization. Skeptical? Here’s one simple case study where a great tagline transformed a no-name technology company into a well-known brand.
First, what is a tagline? Here are a few examples from across the MSP industry … plus some broader business examples:
- Alpheon: IT the way it should be
- masterIT: technology working for business
- Avis: We try harder
- FedEx: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight
- FTD: Say it with flowers
- John Deere: Nothing runs like a Deere
- Office Depot: Taking Care of Business
Big Ambitions
Sometimes a great tagline can make a small company look big. Really big.
Consider the situation at Vyatta. The fast-growing technology company positions itself as “The open-source alternative to Cisco.”
Where does Vyatta actually compete:
- Routers?
- Switches?
- WiFi?
- Storage?
- Something else?
The answer really doesn’t matter because the tagline at least gets you thinking big — really big — about the company. It’s specific enough to let you know Vyatta has big plans to compete with Cisco, but vague enough to make you go searching for more information. Brilliant.
In a single sentence, Vyatta has successfully described who they are (“open source”), who they’re not (“Cisco”) and where they compete — in the networking market — without saying which products they actually offer.
Big Results
In recent weeks, Citrix Systems has invested in Vyatta. And in a podcast I’ll post later this week, Vyatta CEO Kelly Herrell tells me a bit more about the company’s long term strategy and recent customer wins.
Now here are the big twists: Vyatta has a scant 30 employees and focuses mainly on open source routing software. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems had 66,558 employees as of the end of Q3 2009 (April 25, 2009).
Is Vyatta stretching the truth with its tagline? In many ways, yes. But the tagline is incredibly effective and it instantly communicates Vyatta’s market focus and stretch goals.
Does your tagline do the same?
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How often do companies typically change their taglines and do taglines need to be trademarked? If so how do we go about checking potential trademark issues? We’re a five person solution provider in Kansas City with limited funds but we do want to protect a tagline we’re developing.
Roger S: I’m not a marketing wizard, but taglines can last for several years. This list of Coca Cola taglines gives you a feel for how mainstream companies continue to re-invent themselves every few years — or even annually.
On the trademark front, you can start your research here. But my own limited experience suggests you should speak with your company’s attorney to help determine whether you want to pursue a trademark, and whether something can be trademarked.
Great post, Joe! I agree that a good tag line can communicate a company’s value proposition and help boost its SEO. As for trademarks, I’ve been through the process many times. Larger companies will continuously apply for tag line marks, and abandon them if they don’t “stick to the wall”.
For example Apple TM’d “Think Different” but thankfully abandoned “it’s not what a computer can do, it’s what you can do” huh?
Remember Vista’s “The Wow starts now”? Microsoft also abandoned “Amuse yourself, amaze others”.
I’ve noticed that many of the tag lines used by MSPs are pretty generic. Searching the patent office DB shows a lot of rejected tag lines for information technology. Unless you have something really unique, I’d probably invest the $3,000 in better marketing for the brand instead of handing over the cash to lawyers and the USPTO!
Search for live and dead trademarks here: http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm
Mitch: Thanks for sharing that URL link with readers. And to your point, not all taglines are worth trademarking. At the least, MSPs should seek to trademark their company names before pursuing sub-brand trademarks.
Joe, totally agree! If you haven’t trademarked your company name – do it now! Many people believe that incorporating protects your business name. It doesn’t.
Luckily, trademarking your business name is reasonably cheap (about $3k US), but you have to do your homework. The name you choose has to be very distinct from anyone eles’s in the field.
A trademark has two significant parts: the name and its intended use. For example, Apple has a trademark on computer equipment. There’s also an Apple trademark for gardening tools. The usage statement is the most delicate part of an application.
In the example of Alpheon, the staement of use is more important than the name itself! USPTO description follows:
Technical support services, namely, troubleshooting of computer hardware problems; monitoring the computer systems of others for technical purposes and providing back-up computer programs and facilities; computer services, namely, on-line scanning, detecting, quarantining and eliminating viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, adware, malware and unauthorized data and programs on computers and electronic devices; computer security services, namely, restricting access to and by computer networks to and of undesired web sites, media and individuals and facilities; computer technology support services, namely, help desk services; technical support, namely, monitoring of network systems; all such services being provided directly to end users and not to other hardware or telecommunications providers
Mitch, thanks for the examples you offer up to readers. I hesitate to say too much more on the topic of trademarks because, frankly, I’m not an expert. But MSPmentor(TM) does understand the “need” for trademarks.
😉