STILL moving people?

When’s it time to change your strapline? I really don’t know.

Salience theory says pretty much never. Whatever decision was made back in the mists of time you should stick with.

And if the line’s as good as ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’, you could be OK.

But the storytelling approach says every ad needs its own punchline. So the new John Lewis Christmas one ends with ‘If you can’t find the words, find the gift’.

Some people argue for consistency and then use Apple and Nike to prove their point. I don’t think Apple have used ‘Think Different’ since 2002.

And do Nike still use ‘Just do it’? Seems like they rely on the swoosh. Maybe they don’t buy the ‘meaningless beyond the brand name’ argument about Distinctive Brand Assets, probably because it’s nonsense.

Then again it was only last year John Lewis said they were bringing back their classic line. Maybe they changed their mind. Never say never.

Coke’s the other one. They’ve had at least seven different slogans since 2000 but I bet if you asked people, many would still quote ‘It’s the Real Thing’. Or ‘Holidays Are Coming’.

That’s the thing, though. Asking people is about explicit memory. And how many straplines can a normal person remember unprompted?

There are probably a good number many would recognise, particularly if they come at the end of a good old long-term brand-building TV campaign like Specsavers, Cadbury’s or Yorkshire Tea (can you get all three?).

But all the best discussions about brands are about the implicit world. So yes, brands are about building memories, but buying decisions often happen in a flash. Moments of closeness.

Which is my current strapline.

I say ‘current’ because I’ve been thinking about my positioning of late. You may have noticed a few recent diagnosis posts masquerading as entertainment.

But I do see marketeers worrying about their brand losing its connection with consumers - and them losing influence in their company.

And I know my main competitors in strategy are now Ehrenberg-Bass devotees and AI outsourcers.

My insight is that the science and AI shortcuts are actually short-circuits, that drain marketeers and their brands of power. That’s the problem.

And the solution is positioning. The link between motivation and meaning.

But the real benefit to my clients is feeling empowered, to build your brand for the future and drive decisions across your company.

So yes, brand choices do happen in moments of closeness. But as a line, those three words lack a bit of oomph. Time to admit it.

The thing is everything for me starts with my belief in emotional connections. That’s why Closer to Brands has always been about moving people, physically and psychologically.

Through lots of things - synthesising information down to what really matters, getting to a deeper need insight, working in collaboration with brand teams, trusting to experience and intuition.

But what’s the sodding line? 

Still moving people?