Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” So is the definition of marketing insanity changing your tagline over and over to variations of the same theme and expecting to see a spike in sales?
In 2007, I wrote a post here at the Daily Fix sharing the news that the National Pork Board had hired The Richards Group from Texas to spike its sales. One of the elements that was implemented was walking away from their very well-known and recognized tagline (Pork: The Other White Meat) and adopting the new tagline: “Don’t be blah.”
Keep in mind that The Other White Meat was and is considered one of the most influential taglines of our era. It has its own Wikipedia page, for Pete’s sake!
But let’s put that decision aside. For now, let’s assume that walking away from The Other White Meat was a good choice. (Feel free to debate that in the comments section.)
So, in 2005, we have “Don’t be blah.” Apparently, sales did not spike, according to Ceci Snyder, the pork board’s vice president of marketing, and now they’re looking for a 10% increase by 2014. Which is why they’ve moved the account to a Chicago-based agency, Schafer Condon Carter who has recently unveiled the new, new tagline: “Be inspired.”
Now, I will be the first to say a tagline does not define a marketing campaign. And they may have some spectacular things planned that do indeed spike the sales to their goal. But if you are going to walk away from one of the most iconic taglines in American advertising hsitory—not once, but twice—I’d think you’d only walk away if you found something significantly better.
When I look at the two modern day taglines, I see ying and yang. Don’t be blah; in fact, be inspired. They are mirror images, message-wise, to each other. So, I find myself wondering … if we didn’t respond to “don’t be blah,” will we respond any better to “be inspired?”
Time will tell. What do you think?
To me, there are three big questions here:
- Should they have walked away from “The Other White Meat” in the first place?
- Is there a substantial difference between “Don’t be blah” and “Be inspired?”
- Is it the tagline’s job to sell product or to simply connect us to the brand and let marketing tactics do the selling?
I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Tags: national pork producers, pork, taglines, the other white meat
Great post! I do not understand why companies so easily walk away from a tagline that defines them and what they do so specifically. The simple answer is no – they should have kept the tagline and just revamped their marketing strategies and tactics.
I do not see a substantial difference in either of the new taglines – the similarity is that they are both so generic that they could work for many products out there and have no connection to the product/pork.
My thinking is that in this case, the tagline needs to connect us to the brand and the marketing tactics need to do the selling and or find another line that connects to the product better.
Lisa,
I’m sure there is much to this story that we don’t know. But certainly on the surface — one has to wonder why. Some people have suggested that either:
a) the word blah is negative, so less effective
b) the word blah is more interesting than the word inspiring
Which camp do you call into?
Drew
I do believe that the word blah is negative and again has nothing to do with “pork.” I would love to hear from the National Pork Board to hear their side of things!
Lisa,
I’m sure there’s plenty we don’t know, but on the surface — I find it difficult to disagree with you and most of the other comments. Hard to imagine why you’d give up that sort of brand equity.
In my mind…there is a huge difference between a brand’s tagline and a marketing campaign theme. Don’t be Blah and Be Inspired feel more short-term, like a campaign.
Drew
They absolutely screwed up by walking away from their tag line. Studies show that the vast majority of people don’t recall a company’s tag line in the first place…in part because the new CMO insists on changing it. The ones that we recall have been around for decades, and put their finger on the core contribution of the firm: “You’re in good hands,” “Lowest prices. Always.”
Rice,
You are correct about the rarity of people remembering a tagline. That’s why when you create something iconic — the value of that tagline is tough to measure. The equity is invaluable — assuming the tagline is on the money in the first place.
Drew
PS Rice. Walmart was sued and lost when it was shown that their tagline with the term LOWEST was misleading. They were forced to remove the letter “T”. Then their first ad after the judgment was: Prices Falling Everyday….Anyone remember that new add? No voice over, no model, just an Aisle Talker standing in the Aisle and then the price tag fell off to the floor with a lower price showing–very effective. Then Walmart splashed the new tagline: Prices Falling Everyday…How could anyone sue them over that piece of puffery!?
I find it instructive that they never left their core message while changing their tagline. They cater to the “price shopper” and “penny scraper” and do it quite well…gradually descending into consumer hell. lol.
Curtis,
A good point — there are lots of ways to say drive home the same core message. Of course — ideally you get it really right the first time (like Nike’s Just Do It) and then you use that tagline until the cows come home!
Drew
The only benefit of the “be inspired” over the “don’t be blah” is that it’s a positive statement. Not only do people respond better to that because it says what to do, instead of what not to do, but just associating pork with the word “blah” is bad for business. Our subconscious mind sees “blah” and doesn’t care about the “don’t be.” So, I can see it working somewhat better, though I completely agree that essentially they have the same meaning. If anything pork has going for it is that “the other white meat” is pretty ingrained in the minds of Americans, so even when we see a new tagline associated with the product, we still recall “the other white meat” somewhere in the background, and probably will for a long time coming. If they go with something new, it should be targeted toward younger consumers, who aren’t going to be as influenced by the long reign of “the other white meat.”
MNH –
I wondered if anyone would pick up on the positive versus negative language issue. It seems to be one of those camps that you either are firmly in or not. I’m not so sure positive language is always the best choice. (http://bit.ly/negativeworks)
How long, assuming pork continues to walk away from the other white meat, do you think it will take before the grocery shopping consumer no longer connects pork to the other white meat?
Drew
Drew,
Regarding your question: “How long, assuming pork continues to walk away from the other white meat, do you think it will take before the grocery shopping consumer no longer connects pork to the other white meat?”
In my opinion? Forever. Or until everyone who has ever heard “the other white meat” tagline is dead. Because the other white meat is embedded at the level of culture, and the replacement taglines are so forgettable (what product/service/organization in the world could those taglines NOT have been written for?)
“Pork: The other white meat” should never have been replaced by anything as “blahse” and generic as “Don’t be blah” or “Be inspired.” If you are going to replace an icon, how about replacing it with something which has a load of impact and creativity? Those two replacements belong in the waste basket.
Dan,
Assuming the agency had come up with a powerful new tagline — would you have recommended walking away from the other white meat?
Drew
Depends how powerful it appeared to be. To be honest, I thing taglines get changed more often because the advertiser gets bored with it long before the consumer stops seeing it, than for any other reason. Unless it was a totally dumb tagline in the first place.
There’s really nothing wrong with “The Other White Meat” because it places the product alongside chicken and in a face-off with beef. That situation hasn’t changed since time immemorial so why change the tagline? The only development that might have helped would be to teak it a little but stay on-theme. For example, “The better white meat” (Or leaner, or tastier, or cheaper, or easier to cook, or some other superior attribute) stays with the theme and takes it a notch higher.
Is suspect what holds the consumption of pork back is that two major cultural groups won’t eat it for religious and historic reasons. Almost any meat-eater will eat chicken, so it’s always going to have more potential customers than pork. This is a fundamental and market-limiting problem that no amount of tagline re-engineering will ever solve.
Perhaps one day a halal and kosher-compliant pork product will emerge that will broaden the potential market, but I can’t quite see that happening, can you?
1. Maybe. The taglilne is great but a fresh one is sometimes needed.
2. In meaning there is no substantial difference. In the way it persuades/effects people, yes. How you say something is important. Don’t be blah is more eye-catching and has that make-you-stop-and-think effect. The other line, Be inspired is, well…blah.
3. IMHO I would always try to sell the product. You don’t have to be hard-hitting to sell. A good line that connects to the brand can also help sell it.
Apparently, the folks at the Pork Board are determined to prove Einstein wrong. One wonders what the story-behind-the-story is, because this is so irrational as it must have some personal roots attached to it — somebody at the pork board is just bound & determined they won’t use the successful tag line ever again.
Anyways, my answers:
#1: Maximize your investment in advertising and marketing: if it’s been monumentally successful and is still working, invest your money in expansion, not change.
#2: They strive for superiority in awfulness. The first is negative, and unless you want people to avoid a behavior, you don’t frame the message negatively. The other hasn’t anything to do with the product: pork can be delicious. It can be economical. It can be nutritious. But if you find it “inspiring,” I don’t want you sitting next to me on the subway. It’s meat, honey, not a deity.
#3: It’s everybody’s job to do selling, just in different ways that or more or are less direct. The trucker who delivers the pork ’sells’ by delivering it promptly and properly chilled, to ensure a fine product. The marketing people connect the product with appropriate markets in clever new ways. The ad folks devise memorable phrases and images that prompt and enhance the experience. It is — or should be — teamwork. (I know, I know: that’s why I said, “should be.”)
Laurie,
Clearly there is more to the story, I agree. Remember that the pork board is made up of members/pig farmers, vets, other people in the pork production industry. So perhaps there’s politics or a lack of branding knowledge at work here.
We tell our clients all the time — “by the time your consumers recognize and can parrot back your marketing messages — you’ll be so sick of them you want to scream. But — you don’t pull the plug just because you don’t like it anymore. You are not the audience.”
So it could be some of that as well.
LOL@ the deity comment. As you can see, someone else felt it was a bit too “non profit” sounding as well.
I agree with your answers. Wouldn’t it be great if every brand really wrapped their behaviors around the true concept of team selling?
Drew
Drew, I think you are spot on about the lack of branding knowledge at the Board level and your observation that the Board is not the Audience. Reminds me of things I read in the book Brand: It Ain’t the Logo.
Seriously? I work for a nonprofit and that is what I think of when I hear “Be Inspired.” We almost used it as our own tagline until I saw it being used by another local nonprofit. If you’re not going to be original, at least go with something that isn’t over-used. I think it’s time for them to admit they made a mistake and go back to “Pork: The other white meat.”
GM –
Well, looks like you made a good choice by avoiding the “be inspired” tagline. You (and the other nonprofit) would have had to share it with the pork industry. And my guess is — they’d outspend you!
Drew
My rule of thumb regarding marketing is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. “The other white meat” is descriptive and gives us a different way to think about pork, especially in a health-conscious culture. If it’s still working, I don’t see the point of changing it.
“Don’t be blah” and “Be inspired,” on the other hand, could apply to anything from running shoes to the kitchen sink. Rather than giving up a well targeted tag for something so generic, I’d invest in a new campaign that revitalizes the original tag.
Kathryn,
I think the point made in one of the interviews I read was that the pork producers don’t believe the brand tagline is doing it’s job anymore because pork sales have slipped. Which is why I asked the question — is it the brand tagline’s job to sell?
They are tasking the new tagline to increase sales in a pretty dramatic way. I guess that will be the final litmus test.
Drew
A tagline that does not relate in ANY way to the public’s current or conceivable concept of your product or service, is nuts.
Also — just because Nike has “just do it”, does not mean that every brand can suddenly have some wonderful aspirational tagline. It works for Nike because it’s selling motion or the idea of motion, and to get us up off the couch, heh — “just do it”.
It’s pork for crimminy sakes, how inspired can we be?
We tell our exhibit display clients that they need to consider everything about themselves and their competitors and cross off what is the same, and keep what stands out. “The other white meat” does that perfectly. It says, health and variety and … well, as a generally non-meat eater it actually almost speaks to me, which says something.
Be inspired? What is this, motivational speaking services??
Thanks for bringing this up and giving us a chance to respond.
D –
Your comparison to Nike is a good one. Some brands can pull of the inspirational/aspirational — because their product helps us achieve that lofty goal.
My guess is that Be Inspired in the case of pork is more about exciting meals and innovative cooking than something bigger. But…in today’s age, I wonder if that’s what busy families are worried about when it comes to dinner? I’d have bet on economy (both money and time) was a bigger trigger. But I would assume the agency did research before they landed on their new line.
Your advice to your clients is spot on. Every business is fighting for attention and retention. Neither of those come from sameness!
Drew
DC,
1. Agreed. Sometimes a good thing can be improved upon or has served its purpose.
2. Interesting. So you would disagree with MNH who thought the word blah itself was detrimental?
3. Do you think most taglines take on the job of selling or are many brands missing the boat?
Drew
“The other white meat” was a great tagline not only because it was catchy but also because it redefined the product and made consumers think of pork as a healthy option, which was not how people traditionally viewed it (or cooked it, for that matter).
The only reason to scrap an excellent tagline like that is if they wanted to redefine the product again. “Don’t be blah” and “Be inspired” do not redefine the product, and you could pretty much attach them to anything from electronics to soap, which is another ding on their quality.
Personally I think they should redefine pork – but not about being inspired in the kitchen. It should be a campaign about taste and how much people love to eat pork. Something like, “Everything’s better with bacon” or “Still delicious.” I mean, those are very basic but I didn’t get paid big bucks to come up with them either!
S –
Now that would be an interesting campaign for pork — to spotlight bacon, which we think of as an unhealthy choice in contrast to their health focused Other White Meat. But it may have some merit.
Bacon is enjoying quite the cult following and gathering up steam every day. http://www.baconfreak.com/
Drew
What a great debate! To me, changing a tagline is a bit like changing your logo – you should only do it when you really need to – not because some executive is sick of it. Boredom is usually the driving force behind such things, unless an agency convinces the powers that be that the change is just the thing to push sales. (If that happens, you’ve probably got the wrong agency, or the wrong executives, or both.)
Taglines don’t sell products. They can help make your marketing messages more memorable, and when well-crafted, can clearly and concisely sum up your positioning. If you’ve changed your positioning, updated the product, or refreshed your brand, a tagline change might be in order.
Statements like “Don’t be blah!” and “Be inspired” are so generic, they don’t communicate anything about the brand. The beauty of “Pork – the other white meat” was that it conveyed the positioning of pork as a healthy alternative to chicken in one simple, memorable phrase.
An aspirational tagline is hard to own. It takes a ton of marketing and advertising work ($$$) to create the awareness needed for consumers to associate the tagline with the brand. Why waste all that money when you had something good to begin with?
Joeellyn,
One of the things I love about this blog is how lively the comments get! Always a good conversation.
I’d guess that boredom is part of the equation here. The pork people are probably so sick of the white meat tagline. But they are pointing to lagging sales as the motivator.
I agree with you — a tagline’s primary job is not to ring the cash register. It’s to get the prospect to understand and like what it is you’re selling. And in some brand’s case — to trust your product/service enough to consider buying it.
Then you add a sales focused marketing campaign to get you that last mile. That doesn’t mean the tagline doesn’t help the sale. Just that the two are not directly linked.
Otherwise, that’s a pretty high expectation for a short little sentence.
Drew
Ironically both of the replacements fail on their own merits: they’re both ‘blah’ and neither inspire.
To paraphrase another classic ad tagline: “You don’t have to be non-Jewish to know a good tagline for Pork”
Or to paraphrase an existing, and really really great tagline related to your classic tagline: “We answer to an even higher authority.” (Hebrew National).
Steve & Julie –
Beautiful!
Drew
I agree with the statements so far. The negative statements “Don’t” elicit a negative response. The positive “Be” is better, however neither tagline really does it for me. “The other white meat” was good because it repositioned pork as healthy and you know what they’re selling. “Be inspired” by what? My husband inspires me, successful people inspire me. Meat doesn’t inspire me. A tagline should identify who you are/what you are selling, and why it is great.
Erin,
When I first saw the new tagline, I didn’t immediately go to the bigger picture “be inspired” but now that you and a couple other readers have commented on it — I agree, it’s problematic to assign those words to food. It feels like they’re trying to assign a deeper/bigger meaning to the meat. Especially in this era of “no hype” consumer cynicism.
Drew
“The OWM” is definitely an iconic tagline. It strikes me that most brands would kill to have theirs so similarly readily recognized. I understand the impulse to fluff things up a bit around the National Pork Board — but I’d wonder why. Are consumers bored with the messaging… or just the Pork Board?
“Don’t be blah” and “Be inspired” are indeed two signs of the same coin. My problem with them as taglines is that they can be applied to a zillion different brands. In fact, I always give that advice to anyone creating content on behalf of a brand: Don’t create blah. That’s great advice for content or pork, but is it a tagline?
Without getting overly academic here, I think of a tagline as kind of the quick takeaway that’s rooted in your marketing messaging. Short, quick, tweetable; easily conveyed in an elevator; but grounded in who you are. So to your question, Drew. Yes.. I think it can help sell, and (best case) reflects your larger message.
Ann,
From some of the interviews around the shift that I read — it seems like walking away from the iconic tagline was justified by slow sales. No doubt some of it was also insider’s fatigue. Those pork producers have been looking at that tagline on hats, shirts, signs, etc. for a very long time.
It’s interesting to me how some companies embrace the comfort and familiarity of a classic tagline while others bristle against the boredom of it. I wonder if that’s a culture thing, an industry thing or a leadership thing?
I think you, most of the readers and I are on the same wavelength re: the two new taglines. You might build a sales/marketing campaign around them but they’re not unique enough or telling enough to be a brand tagline.
Drew
Neither of these taglines have any (pardon the pun) meat! There was nothing wrong with the original tagline and it should not have been replaced. Using the original and creating new campaigns around it with new visuals, music and expanded reach would keep the current customer base well intact affording the opportunity to reach out and expand.
Patty,
Ha! You couldn’t resist — could you?
Drew
I agree with some of the other contributors above that walking away from “the other white meat” is a huge mistake. It’s too much like some of these nonsense mission statements that plague so many companies. If you haven’t seen Dan Heath’s presentation on “How to Write a Mission Statement that Doesn’t Suck”, there are some great take-home messages in there.
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/dan-heath/switch/writing-mission-statement-doesnt-suck
My own company is suffering from too many motherhood and apple pie statements in the tagline that I am re-working right now. Currently, we’re more “be inspired” than “the other white meat”. Since “the other white meat” is currently not in use, I might just steal that even though we make software.
Aaron,
I’m curious — what’s your plan for shifting both the statements and your company culture to meatier (thanks Patty!) statements? It’s like asking people who love Successories posters to take them all down.
How will you help your team understand the value of not sucking? And I’m not being tongue in cheek. I think that’s a tough culture position to move so I’m genuinely curious as to your plan.
Drew
@ D Elms
“It’s pork for crimminy sakes, how inspired can we be?”
Pretty darn inspired sometimes, let me tell you. I LOVE bacon, much to my doctor’s chagrin.
I didn’t even know that they had changed the tagline from “the other white meat.” Never heard “don’t be blah,” but I think that is an awful tagline for a food product. “Be inspired” could be anything from a church, a school, a non-profit, to any kind of business you could name. They are making a huge mistake and wasting a lot of money.
Peg,
Apparently (according to GM up a little higher in the comments) it’s already being used by at least one nonprofit. So you’re right — it’s open for interpretation!
Drew
Sorry everyone — I’ve been leaving comments all morning to each of your posts and can’t seem to get them to stick. So I’ll comment here…and once we get that fixed, try to jump into individual’s thoughts.
I’m sure there’s a lot we don’t know. But on the surface — I have to say, I find it difficult to disagree with most of you. The brand equity and awareness in The other white meat is the envy of most Fortune 500 brands.
To me, the two newer “taglines” are really marketing campaign themes. Adequate in the short term to drive sales but don’t really establish a brand promise for me.
Drew
If you’re going to have a tagline, it should be meaningful and relevant. So many people, especially in business, are so unwilling and afraid to admit they made a mistake, they continue to make dumb decision after dumb decision. If they had simply gone back to “the other white meat” they would’ve earned a lot more respect. Even going without a tagline would be a better choice than “be inspired.”
Great comments here and a nice post, Drew.
Coreen,
No doubt — it is difficult to take a step back and return to an old campaign/tagline. Although we are certainly seeing a lot of retro campaigns that are doing just that. ( http://bit.ly/retromarketing ) Often — businesses have made such a public statement about moving on — it’s even more difficult.
Actually, in the case of pork, I doubt most people would have noticed. The other white meat is so ingrained in our culture — most people probably didn’t take note of the departure.
Drew
It comes down to CEO or CMO ‘ownership’, pride, and legacy – the “what have I done that will make me the savior (or legend) in the company?” The easiest way (to them) to make an impact … slogans. Vanity, thy name is Board of Directors.
Thinking of other ’staple’ food slogans – “The incredible edible egg”, “Beef: It’s what’s for dinner” – who would even think of replacing those?
Reminds me of the US Army slogan debacle – changing “Be all that you can be” with “Army of one.” Nothing was wrong with the “Be” slogan and is the best, IMHO, they have had of the major four.
Taglines and slogans should be only used for top of mind awareness. It is around those taglines (or inspired by them) that marketing agencies should focus on selling the product. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – or even better – if it’s working wonderfully, don’t mess with it (and “Don’t mess with Texas”, while you are at it)
Thatcher –
That is exactly what took Timex away from “takes a licking and keeps on ticking” — to a series of completely forgettable taglines. One of the worst was….Life is ticking. Ugh.
Interestingly, Timex did exactly what Coreen suggested. The tagline launched in the 50s, and they walked away from it 30 years later. Then, for a period of time in the 90s — went back to the iconic tagline. But with a change of power…came another shift away.
Ask people today what Timex’s tagline is and you know what they’ll say? Yup, the tagline from the 50s.
Drew
Hi, Drew.
I think your point about whether it is the tag lines job to sell is the centerpiece of this. My, albeit limited, knowledge of taglines is that its job is not to sell but to define who and what you are. I agree that the new tag line might work as a short term marketing campaign…maybe someone could be inspirted by a recipe using “the other white meat”!
Shirley,
That’s how I define a tagline’s job. It’s role is to get your product/service to the table. Then… it’s your specific marketing and sales tactics that should close the deal.
Drew
I would love to know why pork sales have slowed. Surely not because of the old tagline??
As a fanatical home cook and eater-outer, I’m WAY more conscious than I used to be about where my food comes from. When I had pork from a heritage breed of pig raised at an actual farm (not at a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation), it was as if I was actually TASTING pork for the first time.
I’m wondering if enough consumers are trending this way… if so, the pork industry needs to face that issue. Can they solve the problem with a new tagline, though? How’s this:
“Pork. Cheap protein, less E.coli.”
Shelley,
Agreed, it was probably not the old tagline that was discouraging people from buying pork. I’d like to know why the decline in sales AND how pork sales trends compared to the other meat sales trends. Maybe everyone is just eating less meat?
No doubt they did consider your tagline suggestion. Who wouldn’t want less E.coli??
Drew
How about “everything’s better with bacon” I think so, anyway.
The Blah and Inspired attempts are really fowl, compared the Other White Meat. I think if they were going to change, they could have gone with something relevant like “Make Mine Swine!” or something… ;>}
Steve,
LOL! You have such a keen marketing mind! And who doesn’t love it when taglines rhyme?
Drew
“Pork – Be Satisfied” would mean a lot more to me as a consumer walking the meat aisle trying to decide what’s for dinner (the Beef people clearly knew their key demographic).
Susan,
I’m sure for all of the meat groups — they have to market to such a wide variety of audiences — from soccer moms to professional chefs. It’s no small task, I’m sure. Including those of us who decide on the fly what we’re cooking in a couple hours!
Actually, that’s one strong aspect of both the beef and other white meat taglines — they’re pretty universal to all the core audiences.
Drew
Southland Corporation (as far as I can tell without doing research) has returned to it’s amazingly powerful tagline: Oh, Thank Heaven for Seven Eleven. Bravo. At least somebody gets your point, Drew. I hear that IQ’s don’t actually improve, but in this case I’d say that somebody with a higher buyer IQ figured out that the old thing was better.
Curtis,
As I mentioned to Thatcher in a comment a few up — Timex did it as well. At least for a while. I wonder if there are many iconic BtoB taglines that would generate this much interest if someone changed them up?
Drew
1. No… iconic doesn’t show up every day.
2. They’re both trite expressions to young and old alike. Also, “Blah” sounds close to ‘blech’ — not the image you want for a food product.
3. I don’t think a tagline is the only thing responsible for selling a product. However, sales going down has to be at least somewhat attributable to their lack of originality in the tagline.
This is just my gut reaction. I don’t always think a company should have to explain their marketing decisions to the blogosphere who has limited inside information.
Jennifer,
I agree with your assessments. Including the one that an organization is under no obligation to explain their decisions to the general public or a marketing blog. There’s no doubt we don’t know the whole story. And probably never will. Again — their right not to disclose.
In my mind, it’s just one example of how taglines are/aren’t used properly and how the very best of them become woven into the fabric of our culture. In the comments — people have cited several other examples of taglines that have strayed and companies who really understood how to build/grow a brand — all while not outgrowing their brand’s tagline. All good things for us to keep in mind as we work to grow our own company/clients’ brands.
Drew
Drew, great post and thanks for giving the opportunity for so many level-headed marketing folks to chime in on the Natl Pork Board’s tagline snafu. I’m very curious as to what research they ACTUALLY did on WHY sales were dropping…maybe someone from the Pork Board or their ad agency will post it anonymously…
I’m happy to see the cult status of bacon mentioned above – it’s got a Twitter hashtag, fer cryin out loud! And all manner of bacon ‘products’ – bacon shoes, toilet paper, dental floss, t-shirts, yada yada. Maybe they should go with ‘Pork – Bacon and Then Some’?
Personally, I’d love it if they went with ‘Ham It Up’ and created a global social media and YouTube campaign, complete with Super Bowl ad contest and contest winners getting a lifetime supply of pork – but that’s just me.
Lisa,
Here in Des Moines, we actually have an event dedicated to bacon. (http://www.blueribbonbaconfestival.com/) It’s a week of bacon related activities, including consuming over 1,200 pounds of bacon at the sold out event.
So you’re right — bacon has quite a following and it seems to be growing!
Drew
Einstein said that? In which publication? You’re thinking of Dr. Phil, probably. http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~cheshire/EinsteinQuotes.html
“def. of insanity” 1st IN PRINT: RitaMaeBrown Sudden Death Bantam 1983 p.68 NOT Ben Franklin/Chinese proverb/Einstein. What’s sad is that you didn’t care enough about your credibility to check and give it sniff test, for BS.
S –
While I am sure Dr. Phil quotes many others…. I did verify it was Einstein and found it here: http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26032.html
Now of course, we can’t believe everything we find on the internet….but I checked several quotation sites to make sure it the information was duplicated.
Since I wasn’t around when Einstein first said it — I won’t swear to the validity, but I believe it to be true. And regardless of who said it, the quote is still a good lead in for this discussion.
Thanks for taking the time to both comment and to do some research.
Drew
Too funny! About an hour after I posted my comment, there was a TV commercial from the Pork Board on the Travel Channel. I didn’t even realize it was about PORK until the very end when the screen said “Pork. Be inspired.”
I doubt I would have noticed that AT ALL if this thread hadn’t been top of mind.
Shelley,
Do you have any recollection about the spot — what it was talking about or the imagery it was using? I’m curious what they’d be talking about that wouldn’t clue you in that it was a pork commercial.
Drew
As an interesting side note to the story…. Sometime in the 1980s a family friend was hired by the pork folks to defend their then tag line “America is leaning on pork.” Evidently, the most difficult piece of evidence against them was a prosecutor holding up a piece of bacon. Not much lean about that.
So maybe there is a history with the pork board and taglines that goes deeper than we realize.
Overall, however, I think “the other white meat” was as good as it gets. Instead of changing tag lines, why not change the campaign tactics behind it? Tiffany, for example, has done plenty of branching out into all kinds of markets and price points without changing the blue box.
Ann,
No doubt this is a complicated marketing challenge — considering the wide range of pork products and as I said earlier — the vast range of audiences to boot. I’ll bet when he held up the bacon — everyone wanted a piece though!
Drew
Great post Drew, I’m amazed at that decision. For me, the tagline “The other white meat” takes Pork where I guess it needs to be (I confess to not knowing much about the Pork market), within the consideration set of the purchase of white meat products. “Be inspired” and “Don’t be blah” could really be talking about any product and really don’t connect with me at all.
I think the purpose of a tagline is to communicate a single benefit and sell product. It must grab a position in the mind of the customer. For me, “the other white meat” does that, the others don’t.
Chris
Chris,
I agree with you on the purpose of a tagline. It’s to drive THE key message and to also give you a sense of the brand’s style/tone if it can. Which is probably why most of us are not reacting well to the two latest offerings. That’s part of what I like about the other white meat as well. There’s a contender/going to fight for a spot kind of enthusiasm that goes with that tagline.
A little like Avis’ we try harder campaign back in the day.
Drew
I think Shelley Ryan asked the fundamental question here: “why have pork sales slowed down”? Also, I’m surprised Drew hasn’t the answer.
I am pretty much in a developing market in comparison with the American market and as an entrepreneur, my approach to all marketing communications is based on market research: what the demographics are thinking about -the product category; the playing brands; my brand and substitute products. Only then will I approach any marketing communication pitch, much more my product Tagline!!!
It will not matter how it sounds to the hearing, but will only reveal its emotional sense when the brand’s USP is matched against competing brands and market perceptions.
Victor,
I agree — that is one of the ultimate questions. There are several key questions around people’s perceptions of pork, how many meals include a meat at all, how often are people eating red versus white meat etc.
And I am guessing that the pork board has done some research to determine some of this information. But I’m not too sure why you think I would have the answers.
I don’t work for the Pork Board or the agency they’ve hired to work for them. So that’s privileged information that they’d have no reason to share with me — a marketing blogger.
I’m raising the issue of swapping out your tagline and what is a tagline’s role — using the current situation with Pork as the example. But really this discussion is much better than pork. It’s relevant for all businesses, as your thoughts about your own efforts suggest.
Drew
“Be inspired” is, to me, sort of “blah.”
I don’t eat pork, so no campaign will get me to buy or it it. But that’s for religious/cultural reasons.
“The other white meat” line said it all and said it best. But this may be a case of the marketer simply getting tired of a slogan or campaign, even as the consumer is still responding to it. How many times have we seen that happen?
David,
You may well be right. Seems like a costly mistake that we’ve seen brand after brand make. I always tell our clients that one of our jobs is to slap their hands and say “keep your mitts off that!” when they try to change the things that are already working!
Drew
“Don’t be blah,” “Be inspired” — they sound more like guidelines for developing a new tagline than actual taglines anyone would actually use!
Laurie,
A tagline within a tagline — that’s ROI!
Drew
I read this blog with great interest. Frankly, I am puzzled why this organization walked away from a well-respected tagline myself. Additionally, the new tagline–Don’t Be Blah–is just not that good. It looses the relation to the ‘meat’ itself that would to my way of thinking cause confusion to the customer. Not much of a touchpoint in my opinion. Perhaps we sometimes make a change simply because we can. Perhaps someone in management decided it was time to ’shine’ a bit by changing things around. Being a leader in industry means listening to the pulse of the company. In this case, seems to me someone just made change for the sake of change. Not very wise. Whatever the circumstances, I think this group’s choice to switch up tagline was a huge mistake. I am curious to see what their logo design is, what their mission statement is, and their webpage site looks like.
I suspect it won’t be to positive other than being a good life lesson at another’s expense.
Again, we shall see.
Bill Gerardino
BGLivEnt
Wait! I’ve got a few better ones.
“Pork. It’s what’s for dinner.”
“Pork. So misunderstood.”
“Pork. MmmMmm good.”
What? Oh. Well it just goes to show how those lines stick with us. Well, gotta go now. It’s time to make the… hehe.
A late entry but a key thought. When considering the merits of a 20 year old tagline, one has to consider the change in the consumer landscape and what the original strategy was when “The Other White Meat” was launched. At the time, Pork was getting beat up as being “Porky,” ie high-fat, and mostly associated with bacon, ribs, etc. The other white meat helped change those perceptions. However, it is still a comparative, meaning that it is based on Chicken. The other white meat served its purpose, but has run its course. Pork now needs to be Pork. Not a second thought to chicken.
Eat up, everybody