Question

Topic: Taglines/Names

Tagline Help For A Startup In Destination Services

Posted by Anonymous on 7/10/2007 at 4:21 AM ET 500 Points
I’m a newbie around here and thought I would jump right in and give the KHE Forum a whirl.

I am in the process of starting a destination management company (DMC) in a Latin American country (seaside city) and am hoping to get some input for a tagline.

Background
A common definition for a DMC is “a professional services company possessing extensive local knowledge, expertise and resources, specializing in the design and implementation of events, activities, tours, transportation and program logistics.” Put simply, we will help meeting and event professionals (our target) succeed with their programs in our city. We provide time and cost savings and local knowledge and expertise. As an example, corporate incentive travel will be a big focus for us. We might work with an incentive program planner to bring in their top 50 salespeople for 5 days of fun, education, etc.

Our city is a “sleeper” of sorts in the tourism and corporate travel industry but is up and coming very rapidly. We would be the first DMC in this market and are looking to hit it hard and fast.

We want to be known for a friendly, customer-oriented focus (but not too casual/informal) and also local expertise and the ability to “make it happen” and “get it done” to ensure the success of the client’s program.

Questions/Concerns
So, we need a tagline line. I'm hoping to have it speak directly to our target, focused on them and not necessarily an overused "we're the best" approach.

We already have our eyes on expanding to other cities and so have elected NOT to have our city name in the company name (a common naming style in this young industry is “Destination CityName” or “Experience CityName”). Of course, our city IS the focus of what we will do: provide expert knowledge and execution in a place not familiar to our clients. So, should we include our city in a tagline line that conveys the idea “Your partner in creating winning programs in CityName”?. If so, then if/when we expand in the near future we would have to change the tagline line. This is better than changing the company name but I’m still not sure it’s good way to go.

So, thoughts anyone on a tagline? Should we include the city name in it? I would really appreciate any suggestions.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by Clive Fernandes on 7/10/2007 at 8:13 AM Member
    Dear Bob,

    Welcome to the KHE forums and I wish you best of luck with your new company.

    I think its a good idea NOT to incorporate the name of the city in your company name. Putting it in your tagline will be a closer call, since you are then trading long term usability of your tagline for a more potent focused tagline now.

    Anyways, I have a couple of suggestions for you, one each for the above choices.

    Bobs Beach Destinations
    - Let us show you around

    Bobs Beach Destinations
    - Your local partner in CITYNAME

    The second tagline is thought up keeping your target market in mind ( event managers) rather than the end user. I feel that would be a good way to go about it.

    Hope this helps.

    Clive Fernandes
    Clive Fernandes Consulting
  • Posted on 7/10/2007 at 2:03 PM Author
    Clive, Vevolution and forcasey,

    Thanks very much for the quick responses. I'm considering all that was suggested. One alternative is possibly to put the city name underneath our logo as a qualifier, similar to Vevolution's suggestion for a sub-tagline:

    Our Name
    Destination Services
    CityName, Country (smaller font)

    Thanks again.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/10/2007 at 7:25 PM Member
    You need to nail down a positioning statement before you either name the company or come up with a tagline. Ideally, your name will convey the key benefit you provide -- the one that's most important to your primary target audience.

    If you were all about a single destination, then that destination would be in the name. If it's great meetings that makes you unique, then that would be in the name. If it's a selection of different cities, then that would be in your name.

    Then you can elaborate in the sub-head if you feel a need to do so.

    If it were my decision alone, I might even consider having a different BRAND NAME for each market, and then have an umbrella brand that covers all the markets and conveys the key benefit that applies to all of them.

    Interesting question. Time to call in a professional branding/positioning specialist! Seriously, you might at least want to participate in the Small Business Marketing Seminar on July 20. It's titled, "Positioning, Naming and Taglines." For more info, click https://www.marketingprofs.com/marketing/online-seminars/114
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/10/2007 at 7:28 PM Accepted
    Sorry, I left out the last word in the previous message, so I'm reposting ... the complete message this time.

    You need to nail down a positioning statement before you either name the company or come up with a tagline. Ideally, your name will convey the key benefit you provide -- the one that's most important to your primary target audience.

    If you were all about a single destination, then that destination would be in the name. If it's great meetings that makes you unique, then that would be in the name. If it's a selection of different cities, then that would be in your name.

    Then you can elaborate in the sub-head if you feel a need to do so.

    If it were my decision alone, I might even consider having a different BRAND NAME for each market, and then have an umbrella brand that covers all the markets and conveys the key benefit that applies to all of them.

    Interesting question. Time to call in a professional branding/positioning specialist! Seriously, you might at least want to participate in the Small Business Marketing Seminar on July 20. It's titled, "Positioning, Naming and Taglines." For more info, click here: https://www.marketingprofs.com/marketing/online-seminars/114
  • Posted on 7/11/2007 at 11:50 PM Author
    Thanks mgoodman for the sound advice and the heads up on the seminar.

    Any other takers?

    I'm about ready to award the points and close this.
  • Posted on 7/17/2007 at 12:46 AM Author
    thetarg: I was pretty sure I had a name when I originally posted this request but since then have been thinking much more about it, wondering if I need to change it. A couple of these responses have been helpful in making me think about things.

    All: thanks for the input. Most thought-provoking for me was mgoodman's who made me realize that I hadn't done near-enough thinking up front. While I had given some thought to the components of a positioning statement, I hadn't "put it all together" or formalized it in any way. I'm currently making some progress I believe in this area (more than before at least!) and hopefully I'll have more clarity soon.

    Thanks again for everyone's input.
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Taglines/Names)