Nancy Schwartz just awarded winners in her “best taglines” contest - Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards. In general, most company taglines - nonprofit or for profit - are worthless. A tagline should relate to your mantra or vision about what you want to be. “Ultimate Driving Machine” from BMW is a great example of a tagline that has stood the test of time. Contrast that with Nissan’s “SHIFT_” which requires a whole paragraph to explain on their corporate Web site. You know that tagline won’t last. Heck, I had to look it up because I couldn’t remember anything other than it was lame.
Many of the pick’s from Nancy’s list are actually quite good. My favorite is “Stay Close…Go Far” from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania - perhaps tied with “Whatever it takes to save a child” from UNICEF. You can go to school here and go a long way in life. Yeah, I like that. Or, we’ll move heaven, earth and anything else that gets in our way to save a child. Powerful!
Some others are a bit underwhelming - like “The Art of Active Aging” from EngAGE. It’s okay. Then there’s “All Building Starts with a Foundation” by Building Future Builders. Cute, but not emotionally engaging.
So that got me to thinking about our tagline - “Better Givving for a Better World.” We are trying to make it easier for people to give better - more effectively - which can have a positive impact on the world. I’m too close to really evaluate it. Does it do the trick? Is the “v v” treatment in Givving too much, or does it help reinforce the Givvy brand? Is it on par with some of the taglines on Nancy’s list?
Filed under: Givving is Broken, startup | Tagged: taglines, marketing, branding
Re: “Then there’s “All Building Starts with a Foundation” by Building Future Builders. Cute, but not emotionally engaging.”
Your opinion is yours to form. And you may even be right in terms of trying to engage the general populace. However, one thing that you may not realize is that we aim our tagline and fundraising efforts on the construction industry. They are a very straightforward, give it to me in 30 seconds, kind of audience.
What we emphasise here is the fact that the future of their industry, which is very reliant on the introduction of new tradespeople and construction managers, rests on the foundation of our efforts to bring new players (i.e. Future Builders) into the playing field.
Respectfully,
Perry Dror, Director
Building Future Builders