Corporate taglines can say a lot with a little

Tag lines can say a lot about a corporation, and shouldn’t be taken lightly – despite their diminutive presence. At times, they can even echo the vision and soul of a company.

Take for instance the venerable technology offspring of Bill Hewlett and David Packard. HP long used the simple tagline “invent,” with a lower case “i” and it established the entire tone and mission of the company.

In recent years, however, “invent” is seldom used, perhaps indicating a confidence, like Apple, that HP simply says it all. Perhaps it says something about the company’s new direction.

Apple, from the beginning, has had no tag line. “Apple,” indeed, does seems to say it all. The brand is iconic, recognized worldwide, synonymous with innovative usefulness. That’s a tribute to decades of [almost always] clear focus delivering to customers innovative, easy-to-use technology that is helpful.

GE used “bringing good things to life” for ages. It was comfortable, comforting and very 1950s. We liked it. Then GE became a ginormous conglomerate, and today the tag is “imagination at work.” That covers all the bases, saying everything and nothing simultaneously.

Toyota’s tag is a double entendre intended for both consumers and investors; it is “moving forward” in lower case [with a tiny red arrow pointing right in case you'd confuse the direction in which their primary markets read: left to right, not right to left]. Low key, steady and reliable, dependable and not frivolous. What more do you want in a car or a company.

Walmart, after a long and painful agency transition, has moved from “Always low prices” to “Save money. Live better.” They’ve also – thankfully! – moved away from “Wal-Mart” to “Walmart.”

It appears that Walmart has changed pricing policies, too. From Maine to Florida, we’ve noticed very fluid same-store, same-product price fluctuations. For instance, such high volume, wildly-floating-priced consumables as soda drinks can vary up and down as much as 30 percent overnight.

So, tag lines say a lot. “Save money - Live better” has very little to do with “Always low prices.” But, gee, they have to pay those hefty ad agency fees somehow, right?