How long can one marketing message perform before it runs out of steam? Why is it that some marketing messages are seemingly around forever and others last only a short time before they grow old?

Let’s make a distinction between marketing message techniques. A tagline (a.k.a. slogan) is a short phrase attached to your brand name that is meant to feature the quality that propels your product or service ahead of your competition and is something that creates a memorable distinction with your target market. It may help define a key characteristic of your brand or it may simply elicit some emotion in your customers. Taglines don’t change all that often. They are meant to make such a connection with the customer that they can hear the tagline and associate the brand with it. A good example is Folgers Coffee, which has long had the tagline, "Mountain Grown." When I hear the words "Mountain Grown," I automatically add the word "Folgers" to the phrase. I am not sure why a coffee bean grown on the side of a mountain would be any better than a coffee bean grown anywhere else, but the marketing of the Mountain Grown Folgers brand has convinced me that there is something better about it than other coffee brands.

Marketing campaigns are another way of communicating a marketing message. Sometimes campaigns are built off of taglines, but more often they are built to play upon the current whims of a target market. We call these short-term trends "customer attitudes." People's attitudes change over time, as opposed to their lifelong values. They are here today and gone tomorrow. Campaigns are taking advantage of what is trending in our target market. For instance, the campaign I remember from Folgers included a jingle that went like this: "The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup." Do you remember it? It was highly successful in reaching coffee drinkers who needed a caffeine kick to get their day started. That campaign was introduced in 1984. It helped propel Folgers Crystals (the instant coffee drink where you just add hot water) to the top spot in the coffee industry. It fit a generation that was on the move and did not have time for a brewed cup of coffee in the morning. That lasted until the market changed its mind about instant coffee and decided it could wait for coffee to brew in the morning. So Folgers again changed its campaign to promote ground coffee in an aroma-sealed canister. The marketing changed to reflect the new attitudes of the customers.

So, when should the marketing message be changed? When your tagline is no longer setting you apart, you should change it. If it isn’t resonating with your customers and your competition is making the same claims, it is time to change. Campaigns will change more frequently. Depending on your industry, they may run for a season and then change. Make your marketing plans to do so. The smart marketer is always gauging just how their target market is responding to new trends, how their lifestyle choices may be changing, what is in and out of vogue with them, etc. Your marketing campaigns should reflect the latest trends and you should be at least six months ahead of the curve with your planning.