My tagline

Stuart Elliot wrote an article in the NY Times about how, in this day and age, advertising messages are becoming more personalized.

Is this a passing trend or is it here to stay? Some taglines I recall off the top of my head are Budweiser- True, Hummer- Like no other, and Jeep- Only in a Jeep.

Excerpted below.

May 2, 2006
Advertising
Nowadays, It's All Yours, Mine or Ours
By STUART ELLIOTT

My, my, my.

Madison Avenue has become obsessed with using the word "my" — along with "your" and "our" — in advertising slogans, as well as in the names of brands, products and even a new television network.

The trend is inspired by a desire by marketers to demonstrate that they understand changing consumer needs by, literally, putting the customer first. They're doing so in everything from the new network, to be called My Network TV, to Web addresses like mycokerewards.com to campaign themes like "My life. My card," for American Express.

"Brands are becoming more personalized and customized because consumers want brands on their terms," said Allen Adamson, managing director at the New York office of Landor Associates, a corporate identity consulting company owned by the WPP Group.

"Having it your way applies increasingly to all brands," Mr. Adamson said, referring to the longtime campaign theme for Burger King, which has recently been revived. "It's only natural that advertisers try to flag that they are more about serving up your brand on your terms."

But the trend carries a big risk, Mr. Adamson warned.

"The demand for customization and personalization is a moving target," he said. "If you're unable to deliver, if what you offer is really no different from everybody else, the claims will do more damage than good."

...Mycoke.com, which started as cokemusic.com, was renamed a year ago after research showed that "what people loved to do most is take the site and make it their own, sharing music and film with their friends," said Katie Bayne, senior vice president for Coca-Cola brands in North America, who is based in Atlanta.

...To be sure, the current crop of possessives is not the first from marketers. The Burger King entry, "Have it your way," dates to 1974, and in the 1950's, commercials for Rheingold beer featured a chorus of drinkers who robustly sang a song that began, "My beer is Rheingold, the dry beer."

But none of the top 10 ad slogans of the 20th century, selected by the trade publication Advertising Age in 1999, use "my" or "our" or "your." Most are from the perspective of the marketer or brand like "We try harder," for Avis; "Good to the last drop," for Maxwell House coffee; and "When it rains it pours," for Morton salt.

A turning point may have come in 1996, when Yahoo introduced a personalization service called My Yahoo (my.yahoo.com). It has grown to about 55 million unique users each month, said Meagan Busath, a spokeswoman for Yahoo in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The name was chosen to "indicate to people it's a site they can create for themselves and can be personal to them," she added.

The "My life. My card" campaign from American Express, created by Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, part of WPP, began in November 2004.

"American Express is all about relationships with consumers," said Joanna G. Lambert, a spokeswoman for American Express in New York. "The 'My life. My card' campaign showcases the connection with our customers."...