Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Dear rorymason7,

I'll go to my grave muttering this: Catchy is NOT a Selling Strategy.

As a Brit living and working in the USA these past 11 years there are a few things I REALLY miss about the UK and one of them is a really, REALLY good chip shop.

Ah, many's the Friday night when I think "what I wouldn't give right now for a Pukka Pie"! But that's by the by.

All right. To business.

As a veteran graphic designer and marketer, my best advice to
you is this: what YOU think of the name is irrelevant. This means it's ESSENTIAL that you put your feet in the boots of your CONSUMER.

To stand out in a crowded marketplace, one where there are lots of other chippies, all it's necessary to do is put up a big arsed sign that says:

"Blakney's Best Fish and Chips. Guaranteed!"

OR, even better:

"Blakney's World Famous Fish and Chips!"

... complete with photos (preferably signed) of Little and Large.
Les Dennis, Anita Dobson and the usual suspects of the local panto.

This creates vital and valuable social proof.

And if the sign is stretched across the main drag, tied from one lamp post to another so that to drive along the main sea front you'd have to be BLIND not to notice it (by dint of having to drive under it), so much the better. More so if there's a photo of Little and Large stuffing their faces.

With me?

Trust me on this squire. It works like magic.

There will be people that'll tell you "You can't say that! You can't say 'World Famous'", to which your answer will be: "Bollocks! Course I can!" and you'll then tell them that no one else is saying it, thereby rendering anyone that DOES have the balls to say it a stand alone outfit.

As proof, I give you Harry Ramsden's https://www.harryramsdens.co.uk/

Harry's isn't just a fish and chip shop. It's a textbook example of the personification of marketing.

It's also a gold mine.

Result for you? Instant market definition and SHARE OF MIND!

And add in a few scantily clad maidens dressed as mermaids wandering along the sea front handing out leaflets for free pots of tea with any sit-down, eat-in orders for four people or more and you generate word of mouth AND a reason for people to visit to claim their free pot of brew.

So, keep it simple. This means no catchy names. Ever. None.
Got that?

When it comes to grub, the great British public votes with its knives and forks, not with the imaginations of the owners of its eateries.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
Wilmington, DE, USA

P.S. "If a dolphin will jump through a hoop for a fish, imagine what it'll do for a bag of chips!" —Harry Hill

Round The Corner Chip Shop
Freshest Chip Shop