Beware your strap-line

I believe that the purpose of a strap-line is to enhance the possibility of someone buying your products or services.

I was walking through the City this morning and I noticed a van with the name of its business on the side. Whilst I can't remember the name of the company, I did notice it said, "caterers who care".

I thought that, whilst I would remember that strap-line, it wouldn't induce me to consider their services, because it was inviting me to assess its validity. I'd have to first use them before I could assess if the strap-line was true. It sounded like hard work. Anyway, I assumed that all companies cared about doing business.

At the beginning of the 20th century strap-lines such as, "purveyors of fine wines", described exactly what the business provided. Even today there are some companies that still have such strap-lines and, whilst they may seem quaint, at least they don't ask us to make a judgement about whether they care or not.

So, when creating your business strap-line, ask yourself, "does it describe what we do or does it invite people to have an opinion about our business?"