| Don't turn your search for the perfect name or tag | | | | The New Jersey contest had another serious flaw. |
| line into a popularity contest! Two instances of this | | | | To be eligible to vote on the best slogan, you had to |
| have crossed my path recently. | | | | be a New Jersey resident. While residents do have |
| First, someone I know asked people to vote on the | | | | the greatest stake in improving the reputation of |
| best title for a forthcoming book. That's unwise, | | | | their state, they by definition don't belong to the |
| because what people say they like in a book title: | | | | target market of the tourism slogan. To understand |
| * Doesn't necessarily distinguish the book from | | | | what would appeal most to non-New Jerseyans, |
| others | | | | don't look to New Jerseyans en masse. Many will be |
| * Isn't necessarily clear, spellable and free of negative | | | | clueless about this and get it upside-down. Outsiders |
| connotations | | | | are the ones who need to understand the slogan and |
| * Doesn't mean those who are the best audience for | | | | respond. |
| the book will "get it" | | | | I'll never forget an ad for a Great Plains software |
| * Isn't always easy to remember and repeat | | | | company that obviously assumed that a photo of a |
| * May not perform well in search engines | | | | flat-to-the-horizon landscape without trees was an |
| Second, according to The New York Times, the | | | | appealing image. For me, a die-hard New Englander |
| state of New Jersey put its prospective new tourism | | | | accustomed to heavily wooded hills, this picture had |
| slogan to a vote. The winning entry, "New Jersey: | | | | the opposite effect - it filled me with horror. |
| Come See for Yourself" received just a few more | | | | Of course, someone who lives in New Jersey or |
| votes than "New Jersey: The Best Kept Secret." | | | | North Dakota may be perfectly capable of portraying |
| Both the winning and the runner-up New Jersey | | | | their region appealingly to outsiders. Instead of asking |
| slogans flunk an elementary test for the | | | | any group to vote on a winning name or tag line, set |
| effectiveness of a tag line or slogan: It should | | | | up your contest so that people can submit |
| distinguish the company, or in this case the state, | | | | suggestions. Then have either one person or a |
| from most or all others. Try this out yourself by | | | | committee cull the entries according to a list of |
| plugging in names of other states besides New | | | | criteria drawn up beforehand. |
| Jersey - most of the time, the slogan becomes no | | | | By selecting and judging rather than mass voting, |
| more and no less applicable. This means the slogan | | | | you're most likely to end up with a name or slogan |
| cannot make a strong case for the Garden State. | | | | that wins over your audience. |
| More bluntly, it's mainly hot air. | | | | |