Poetry and slogans used in business

Do business and poetry have anything in common? Businesses need to be more creative than ever to attract new customers, and at the same time still retain their current customers.

Where is there a place for poetry in business? Marketing departments need poets to convey their messages to prospective customers. Employees need to be creative on the job and tap into their inner soul.

Slogans are usually written from witty, creative advertising and marketing gurus. In this section, I will address some popular slogans used over time.

"Where's the beef?"

-Wendy's

Wendy's first unmasked this slogan in a television commercial aired on January 10,1984. The fast food chain restaurant hired gray haired actress Clara Peller to look at a small burger on a very big bun, and asked "Where's the beef?"

"Priceless"

-MasterCard

This slogan was introduced in 1997 for MasterCard. Peyton Manning continues to be a spokesperson for MasterCard with his hilarious commercials and commentary on life.

"Need to get away"?

-Southwest Airlines

-Have you ever seen the commercial from Southwest, where the husband lets the animals out of his neighbor house he is house-sitting? Hilarious!

"Take a bite out of Crime."

-Crime Prevention Coalition

This slogan directs people to act and was used in a series of McGruff the Crime Dog television commercials in the 1980s. McGruff the Crime Dog® and "Take A Bite Out Of Crime®" are registered marks of the National Crime Prevention Council.

"Takes a licking but keeps on ticking."

-Timex Corp

John Cameron Swayze was a news anchor for ABC network news, but was best know for bringing the the Timex slogan to life by the creation of his poetic catchphrase, "Takes a licking but keeps on ticking." He appeared in Timex watch commercials for over 20 years, and became one of the most recognized television personalities, and passed away in 1995.

In the year 2000, companies were distributing books of poetry to their customers, and hoping customers would find inspiration from this endeavor.

Examples of poetry given free to customers

• April is National Poetry Month. In April 2000, flight attendants handed out not only peanuts, but 100,000 copies of poetry collections to customers on flights. Songs of the Open Road: Poems of Travel & Adventure, was provided by the American Poetry and Literacy Project, a nonprofit organization based in Washington. The book included the works of renowned poets like Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson and E.E. Cummings.
• DaimlerChrysler has sponsored poetry readings New York, Detroit, Seattle, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and as a thank you to the poets, published an anthology of the works of the poets who participated, printing 10,000 copies to be given away.
• AT& T, Blue Cross Arthur Andersen, and Deloitte & Touche even invited poets to speak to their management teams. Volkswagen put 40,000 copies of the poetry books by the American Poetry and Literacy Project in glove boxes of its new cars in April 1999, about the time the new Beetle went on sale.

What company uses

"Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh, what a relief it is."

as its slogan?

Some catch phrases in business and advertising are more creative than others, and it takes a talented person and team to develop these phrases and market them to mass audiences. Phrases that have poetic styles can be more catchy and memorable.

I will leave you with one last business slogan, ''Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh, what a relief it is.''

Can you guess the advertiser?