Title: What's A Tag Line and Why Should I Care?
Author:
Section/SPIG: Health Administration
Issue Date:
HAS leadership has been wrestling with the idea of creating a tag line for use on our Web site and Newsletter since late last year.
What is a tag line you ask? Excellent question. It is usually the one- or two-line descriptor that often accompanies a business's logo. It is often found on or near the logo on the business's Web site.
Examples of tag lines from sources we recognize include:
APHA - "American Public Health Association - Working for a Healthier World"
Minnesota Public Health Association - "Minnesota's Voice for Public Health"
The Medical Library Association - "MLA - Quality information for improved health"
AcademyHealth - "Advancing research, Policy and Practice"
National Library of Medicine - "Trusted Health Information"
Public Health - Seattle King County (Health Department) - "Healthy People. Healthy Communities"
CDC - "Safer healthier people"
AMA - "Physicians dedicated to the health of America"
Trisha Todd reminded us in a recent e-mail message that "a tag line, like a graphic identity, is a "quick snapshot" of what you are about...or why you are special (think the swoosh of Nike and the "just do it", or the Monsters Inc. movie "You won't believe your eye" --- or the classic "You're In Good Hands with ... Allstate"). She went on to suggest some good guidelines for tag lines.
Trisha also offered the following suggestions to help us think about tag lines:
- tag lines are catchy;
- tag lines are only a few words long;
- tag lines are creative and have more than one meaning;
- tag lines speak to the core mission and values of your company and organization.
One online article that is heavily cited on the Web describes five steps for developing a tag line. These are:
- Decide what you want to communicate with your tag line.
- Prepare to brainstorm.
- Brainstorm.
- Consolidate your list.
- Choose the one best tag line. (1)
We want to convey a strong, clear vision and value proposition to our target audiences, our current and future members and the public. It would also a little more creative if we could think of a tag line which uses the letters H, A, and S - but for something catchier than "Health Administration Section."
Taglines suggested by a few of the HAS leadership include:
HAS - Leading you into a healthy future
HAS - Managing for a healthier future
HAS - Developing leaders for a healthier future
HAS - Leaders in public health
HAS - Public health leadership and management
HAS - Leading public health into the future
HAS - Public Health Leadership and Management
HAS - Helping Administrators Soar
HAS - Hatching Action Successes
Health Administration. Making vision reality
HAS: Making Better Health Managers
Leading the way to a healthy future
HAS: Making managers better
HAS: Making better managers
HAS: Improving management skills
HAS: We bring meaning to health administration
HAS: Developing Better Health Leaders
These are the suggestions we have had to date. It would help us if you would take a few moments and add your suggestions to the online survey - or vote on the tag lines you like. The survey is located at <http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspu=705191132682>. You can vote for existing taglines or add your own. View the results at the end of the survey.
We welcome your ideas. Each suggestion will be carefully considered. [Editor's note: I will try to remember to include the results in the next issue of the Newsletter].
References
1. 5 Steps for Developing a Tag Line for Your Product, Business, or Website By Bobette Kyle. 2003 [Online] Site URL: <http://www.ecomhelp.com/KB/Branding/kb_developing-a-tagline.htm>.