I’ve commented on the taglines of two railway companies in the past. Of course, who can remember what they were? One was good, one wasn’t. Now I’m seeing a third railway company joining the fray. Norfolk Southern Railway has a new campaign, with a pretty commercial, and a pretty spiffy tagline:

One line. Infinite Possibilities.

What’s nice about the line is that it actually expresses an IDEA, and with just a touch of cleverness. And “infinite possibilities” is a reasonably inspirational, energetic, optimistic phrase to hitch your wagon to.

Since I don’t know much about the commercial rail business, I can only assume that railroads have competition from trucking companies, at least, thus perhaps justifying idea of advertising in the first place.

I just noticed a commercial for Maker’s Mark. I didn’t actually process any of the commercial, since it was half over when I flipped to the station it ran on. But the tagline reached right through the screen and slapped me upside the head. I may be exaggerating. But I did like it.

Here it is: Maker’s Mark. It Is What It Isn’t.

I bet that line makes sense once you know the story they’re telling about their whiskey or bourbon or whatever. Of course, if their story doesn’t make the line make sense, then I reserve the right to a 180.

Other than giving a hint about the brand’s differessence, it has two other admirable qualities. The line stops you long enough to try to process it. And, it’s a nice middle finger to the impossibly irritating tautological cliche, “It is what it is.”

The book is called The Idea Writers. Ms. Iezzi, last time I checked, is still the editor of Creativity. She has been observing and analyzing the business for many years. And she had conversations with many of the most renowned copywriters around in the writing of this book.

The audience, presumably, is advertising people, especially advertising writers. But there is much in this book for anyone interested in the advertising business, or even simply in the nature of communication in this digitally inundated culture.Ms. Iezzi is both very sharp and very thorough in her examination of the changing nature of persuasive communications, and how the role of the copywriter has changed profoundly over the past couple of decades.

I don’t recommend books lightly. The last book that I gave such an unqualified rave to was Luke Sullivan’s Hey Whipple, Squeeze This, which has become a classic in a very short time. Finallly, here’s a book worthy of taking that next space on the shelf of must-read advertising books, right next to Mr. Sullivan’s.

Nice to be back after the holiday break. Hope you survived intact.

As those of you who follow this blog already know, I consider one-word “taglines” to be worthless and inexcusably lazy. You can’t express a differentiating thought about your brand with just one word.

I’ve also spent time railing about the overuse of the word “matters” in taglines. “Such And Such Matters” has been an overused heading, headline and tagline for articles, newsletters and ad campaigns for decades. Playing on the two meanings of “matters” stopped being clever somewhere in the middle of the last century.

I thought Northwest Memorial Hospital had taken that tagcrime to its final absurdity with their tagline “Everything Matters.” With the utterance of that line, the meaning of “matters” is entirely obliterated.

Now, however, Capella University has pioneered new ground by managing to commit two cardinal sins with one word.  Their new tagline is, if you can believe it:

Capella University. Matter.

I can only assume that this is intended to be an exhortation to prospective students to attend Cappela (if “attend” is the right verb when speaking of online universities), because, in doing so, you will become a person who matters to others, to the world, a person who will make a difference. Something along those lines.

Or there is the less likely interpretation, that Capella wants to celebrate everything physical in the universe[s]. Or, maybe not celebrate, but simply recognize the existence or the reality of the physical realm?

I’m amazed that they didn’t go for the trifecta and stick an exclamation point after the word.

To me, the most damning aspect of this tagline is what it implies about all those who don’t enjoy the special status of Cappela students. Doesn’t that tagline confer on the rest of us the status of not mattering?

It’s true, they aren’t saying, explicitly, “Attending Capella is the only way to matter.” But there is still a clear implication that they are targeting whichever group of people doesn’t currently matter. Apparently, being a human doesn’t, in and of itself, count for anything.

In all fairness, I must acknowledge that Capella, together with many other institutions of higher learning, have taught me something. I’ve learned that the bulk of colleges and universities, just like the bulk of businesses, have a lot to learn about taglines.