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Taglines/Names   URGENT - Need Help Fast!  
 
This question has been closed, and points have been awarded.
Help Create Tagline For Small Ind. Telco In Iowa
Posted By: sara on 3/20/2007 1:17 PM (CST) 500 Points
I’m the marketing manager for a small independent telephone company located in Iowa. We are constructing Fiber To The Home this year and decided to take a new look at our logo and tagline as part of the process. We have been brainstorming and working with a consulting group to develop a new tagline.

The top taglines that we’ve narrowed it down to are as follows:
1. All you need….
2. Centered on serving you.
3. Empowered to serve you better.
4. We care. We listen. We deliver.
5. People providing solutions.
6. When all you want is simply everything.
7. Talk. Watch. Connect.

Here is our positioning statement: We are a small communications company that provides local telephone Internet, and video services. We are easy to deal with, attentive, caring, trusted, and innovative. We respond quickly and are in tune with the needs of our customers.

We compete against large cable companies, wireless service, and VoIP. We need to differentiate ourselves from the competition by stressing the excellent customer service we offer.

Please help us narrow down our selection or provide us with your ideas. Thank you for your help!

Posted by: vic Member Response
3/20/2007 1:31 PM (CST)
Simplicity speaks a thousand words...which is why I vote for
"Let's talk"
 
Posted by: vic Member Response
3/20/2007 1:32 PM (CST)
A good alternate for that is

"People are talking"
 
Posted by: sara Author Response
3/20/2007 1:46 PM (CST)
Thanks, Vic. I'll add your ideas to my list.
 
Posted by: retail Member Response
3/20/2007 2:29 PM (CST)
The ONE to call for it all - Phone, Internet, Cable, VOD.

Anytime, Anywhere, we Care

As is frequently mentioned, Is there a problem with your current logo and tag? If it aint broke don't fix it. Will your current customers still relate to the new identity - how are they going to know you've not sold the company? Will you lose the brand equity you've established with the old logo and tag? Is it worth it?
 
Posted by: D4Demand Member Response
3/20/2007 2:42 PM (CST)
I saw the future in 1991.

In a little town in Saskatchewan (Canada) I saw the first FOTS to the home. These 100 homes had full access video to the entire educational video library at the local trade school, top five videos of the week from the local Blockbuster, remote PC connection to the PCs at the trade school: all with their touch tone phone. Plus all their utilities were read over the fiber optic cable.

Here's the point! The entire focus of the project was to provide whatever you wanted when you wanted it. The access to the entire community was immediate and on the phone line.

So my ideas for the tag line are:
Presenting the world.
Here's your world.
Your world on your desktop.
The world when you want it.
The whole cornfield at once (It's an Iowa thing)
The world of Media

D4
 
Posted by: peanutpeanut Member Response
3/20/2007 3:06 PM (CST)
bringing you the world

the world on demand

the world at your fingertips
 
Posted by: michael Member Response
3/20/2007 4:06 PM (CST)
Sara,
If you look at what Teleconnect did (probably too long ago for you) and then McLeod...Clark was able to convince people that he was a real person and customer problems would be handled by real people.

I believe most people are aware of the options and capabilities but how do you handle service issues. That should be the focus.

Real Access. Real Value. Real People.


Michael
 
Posted by: Tracey Member Response
3/20/2007 4:26 PM (CST)
My fave is "Empowered to serve you better." I've had many frustrating calls with Internet, cable, and phone companies, and I like this tagline because so often, you call and speak to a customer service rep who has no idea how to handle your issue... so this makes me think that the front-line reps are empowered to provide real customer service.
 
Posted by: sara Author Response
3/20/2007 5:15 PM (CST)
These are all great suggestions, thank you.

I appreciate the different approach that everyone took and the background that you provide with your ideas. I hope to keep the posting for another couple of days to see what other feedback we recieve.
 
Posted by: sara Author Response
3/20/2007 5:15 PM (CST)
These are all great suggestions, thank you.

I appreciate the different approach that everyone took and the background that you provide with your ideas. I hope to keep the posting for another couple of days to see what other feedback we receive.
 
Posted by: Smonnes Member Response
3/20/2007 7:06 PM (CST)
To play on your 'trust' attribute, how about:

Reaching out to you
Trust us to bring you more
Where connections mean more
Local connections, world wide reach
 
Posted by: proeditor Member Response
3/20/2007 7:33 PM (CST)
I don't have any ideas yet, but I will give you some feedback. (it's always easier to criticize than to come up with good suggestions).
Sorry to say this, but none of the taglines your consulting group suggested sound very unique to your industry, except for #7, and it's not real exciting (Talk. Watch. Connect.). You could apply the others to almost any service, e.g., "ABC Plumbing... We care. We listen. We deliver." See what I mean?

The "empowered" one is a nice thought but I would guess that (sadly), many people don't know what empowered means and would think that it had something to do with the strength of your signal (power) or something.

That said, it's of course, very difficult to get everything you'd like to say into a tagline. Michael's "Real Access. Real Value. Real People." comes close, but still seems to make the same sort of empty promises that we hear everywhere. Vic's "People are talking" is my favorite so far, because with its duble meaning, you can read a lot into it, and your company can take it in many directions in your advertising. People are talking about our service. People are talking about [product]. People are talking about how much we care. etc. etc. The nice thing about this is that it doesn't sound like empty bragging -- "people" are saying it, not you.

While I'm pondering this, can you tell us what it means for a phone company to provide video service? I'm not sure what that means in that context. Is it what D4Demand describes? You dial your phone and watch something on your TV?

I can see why you want to emphasize customer service, because most of your competitors are horrible at it. However, everyone claims to have good customer service, so that's a hard sell. Can you make a promise, like "you'll never be on hold" or "all calls answered within 2 minutes" or "one call and your problem's solved?"

What are the benefits to the customer of "Fiber To The Home?" I'm a little behind the times on this technology, and a lot of your customers will be too. You need to tell us why we want that stuff. Your positioning statement doesn't address this at all, and I think it would help you if it did.

I hate it when people post here with just negative thoughts, and that's what I just did, but I felt like you needed some honest feedback. Got my thinking cap on now and will post again if it helps me come up with something good.

Best of luck,
karen
 
Posted by: Steve Hoffacker Member Response
3/20/2007 10:40 PM (CST)
Hi sara,

I would focus on the quality of your network and contrast this to your competition with: "Clearly different."

For a lighter approach: "Talk about being connected."

Steve
 
Posted by: rave70 Member Response
3/21/2007 3:07 AM (CST)
Sara,

I would suggest

"Connect Better"
"Connectivity Matters"
"Stay Connected"
"Connecting Relationships"


The reason why I am playing around with "Connect" is because I think that's the center focus of your business. And also it has an emotional touchpoint.

thanx
Ravee
 
Posted by: Phoenix ONE Accepted Answer
3/21/2007 12:51 PM (CST)
I agree with Karen ProEditor above on a few of her points....and also wish to be constructive.

I would suggest that you need to come up with a different approach that your current ideas - Most of the tags you presented are about YOU- not about your values to the consumer.

The top tag lines that we’ve narrowed it down to are as follows:
1. All you need…. Too broad and ill defined

2. Centered on serving you. -About you & sounds like a fast food store.

3. Empowered to serve you better. Who cares you are empowered what's in it for me, and you are serving again!

4. We care. We listen. We deliver. You should and You better!

5. People providing solutions. Too Broad, overused and ill defined for your product and audience.

6. When all you want is simply everything.- Not sure what this means -can I get a fries with that?

7. Talk. Watch. Connect. Now you are getting on target

You are in the retail business providing a service that people take VERY seriously ---- You know that you do not fool around with their communications or TV connection -no one want to miss American Idol because your service was down. You must be a serious player and convince people of that fact without sounding like AT&T - You admitted your competitors are the "big boys" Therefore keep it simple.

I would suggest

ONE Simple Connection, bringing you the World, and your Friends.

It is soft, on message and I believe people can relate. You could follow with a secondary tag:
Single source TV, Phone and Internet, for YOUR home, what could be easier?

Now your have reengaged with a question.

You have defined it as simple, you only need one connection, to combine TV/Vid/Net and it is for people in their home.

I think it will play.{Literally}

Hope this helps

Good Luck & Happy Marketing ~ Bill
 
Posted by: sara Author Response
3/21/2007 1:28 PM (CST)
These are all wonderful ideas and clearly a lot for us to consider. I shared the ideas and feedback with my GM and will continue to do so until our consultants arrive tomorrow.

Thank you again for taking the time to break everything down and offering constructive feedback that we can act upon.
 
Posted by: keith* Member Response
3/21/2007 1:49 PM (CST)
The new talk
The new way to talk.
 
Posted by: proeditor Member Response
3/21/2007 1:56 PM (CST)
Hi Sara,

Didn't want to leave you without at least one different idea. Why don't you emphasize the advantages of being small? Something like:

Because we're small, you get personal service.
Because we're innovative, you get the best technology out there.

I also like Bill's idea: "ONE Simple Connection, bringing you the World, and your Friends"
but I might add to it:
ONE Simple Connection, Bringing You the World, Your Friends and Personalized Service.

karen
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Member Response
3/22/2007 6:52 AM (CST)
I like the idea behind Talk. Watch. Connect.

Except that's a strange sequence, isn't it?

Doesn't Connect happen first?

I have a different idea. The (my) world is obsessed with diet and food. Put your product on the map with:

(Iowa Telco)
Your daily fiber intake

Good luck

ChrisB
 
Posted by: connie* Member Response
3/23/2007 9:12 AM (CST)
I like this idea from above...

ONE Simple Connection, bringing you the World, and your Friends.


I think that you need to be careful to make your tagline about the customer, not about your company. Many of the taglines that you first suggested are centered on the company and what it provides rather than on the customer's experience.

Another simple idea....
Connecting Your World
 
Posted by: farfromnormal* Member Response
3/23/2007 11:14 AM (CST)
Sara, competition is tough for you, dealing with large agencies. Lets have friendly tone with customers as to sound good and polite. Whoever picks up customers call..should have a real nice voice to stand out amongst the big giants.

Some thoughts from me on tagline from your own positioning statements :

easy to deal with connection
All you need is us
Your trusted partner
Because we care to connect
I for Iowa Innovation
we respond quickly
friendly connection
friendly neighbourhood
Your calls are important to us

Ok!

Good wishes
Palak
 
Posted by: Kamran Member Response
3/25/2007 1:39 PM (CST)
Sara,

A lot of good suggestions. In a constructive vein, I would like to make an observation.

Why are you not focusing on your core strength. Which is small size & local roots. You do want to mention your customer services, but there is nothing in your taglines, which mentions this.

I like Karen, Bill & Palak's comments, especially Palak's "I for Iowa Innovation".

I would recommend something, which emphasises your local roots and at the same time tells something about your business.

Iowa I - ONE Simple Connection, bringing you the World, and your Friends (Bill, with your permission)

We Connect Iowa to the World

Connectivity Solutions for Iowans

Serving Iowans from Iowa

We Link Iowa to the World from Iowa

Nimble Iowan Telecom Brings You the World
 
Posted by: sara Author Response
3/26/2007 9:18 AM (CST)
After much debate and thought, we have decided on "We care. We Listen. We Deliver." as our new tagline. We chose this tagline because it was the one that the employees felt the best about and would get on board with. From a PR perspective, it gave us some flexibility on ways to use it in our marketing. We could write articles in our newsletter, create visuals, and put a story with each point - how we care about our customers and community, the services we deliver, etc.

It's not as customer-centric as recommended by many of you, so that could be a challenge. All of the suggestions and feedback you offered really helped in this process, so we are very grateful for your help! Thanks and best regards from Iowa!
 
Posted by: Kamran Member Response
3/26/2007 3:26 PM (CST)
Sara,

I believe that the job of a consultant is to give you options. We can tell you, what options are available and can recommend one course of action, as the best possible one. But we CANNOT make a decision for you. It is YOUR Company, you & your team have to be satisfied with the option / course of action, that you adopt.

If we have managed to help you in arriving at a decision, which solves your problem, then we have done our job.

I am glad that, our input was of use to you and wish you best of luck in your future.

regards
 


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