As seen in the Los Angeles Times, 10/4/7

IN BOX

By Karen E. Klein

Q:  I'd like to dream up a slogan for my company.  How do I come up with a good one?

A good slogan extends and explains your company's "brand," which is the proposition that makes your firm unique.  To pick an effective slogan, you have to first develop your brand.  Are you promising the best customer service in the industry?  The most unusual or functional product in your niche?  Top-of-the-line consulting expertise at bottom-line prices?

List words that you'd associate with your brand and string them into clever combinations.  Humor, alliteration and simile can elevate a slogan from dull to memorable.  Ideally your slogan shouldn't be more than six or seven words long.

When you have a couple of possibilities, look at your competitors and identify those that have a similar brand "promise," suggested branding expert Steve Cecil, founder of WhereWords.

"You want to avoid inadvertently duplicating someone else's intellectual property.  Revise and rewrite until your position is unique," he said.  Talk to an attorney for further information on intellectual property protection.

Get feedback from employees and associates before you decide on a slogan.  They may see problems that you haven't.

If your effort goes nowhere, you've got a larger problem, Cecil said.  It might be that you haven't adequately identified your company brand and need to build a foundation before you put on the second floor.  What's your company's vision?  Its mission?  Its value proposition?  If you're not sure, you need more than a slogan.  Cecil recommended two books, "Building Strong Brands" and "Managing Brand Equity," both by David A. Aaker for further information.

Why does a brand matter so much in business?  It's the only way you can define your company in the eyes of the world -- and your customers.  "Utter fortunes rest on the difference between 'computer editing' and 'desktop publishing,'" Cecil said.

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