Have You A Winning Product Sub-Title?

As I listened to the always enjoyable newsanchor Eddie Mair in his regular London five o’clock slot, I couldn’t help but admire the master of irreverence continually reference his Saturday show;

iPM – the programme that starts with its listeners

Complete with audible cheeky grin. You could almost hear the wink and (unintrusive yet still playful) slap of the thigh.

I was partly reminded of Richard Quest’s favoured self-branding

CNN – on this network, the news always comes first

Complete with comedy pause before the final two words.

(Although after being attacked as a purveyor of ‘fake news’, I hear him amend this to state “facts” over simply ‘news’.)

For some reason my mind skipped to the famous IBM reps’ refrain deep from the last century, “you never get sacked for buying IBM”. And how today they might prefer a more aspirational treatment;

IBM – the only supplier that gets you promoted

I have noticed this trend slither ever darker inside the book world. A quick search led me to how such have become increasingly pervasive and misleading. Even with a proposed natty formula;

“Cool Phrase [colon] Promise that book will A.) Change Your Life, B.) Show How America (sic) Changed, or C.) Explain Everything.”

Death by subtitle indeed.

Many books (particularly in today’s pop-biz genre) offer up some newly rebranded word then throw in a sentence-long definition to follow.

Still, if you don’t overuse, and deploy with a glint in your eye, I feel that there’s a powerful message gluegun here.

Especially when presenting among friends (whether internals or strongly committed client).

What is the one main trait, driving force or outcome you want your audience to attach to yourself/company/product/project?

Can you do a spot of gerunding? Or take a prospect department, location or stated strategy and suffix it to then own the desired impact?

Snap it into a snazzy sentence and drop alongside every time you mention its name.

You can even cock an ear after a few to let your audience recite the winning subtitle back to you and enjoy the panto.