Part
of every company's identity is its tagline. What company do you think
of when you read: “Semper Fidelis”; "Where's The Beef?"; "Don't Leave
Home Without It"; "No One Does More For Veterans" (yes, even VFW has a
tagline); "We've Got Your Back"; or "The UnCola"? Click on this link
above and you will be able to read the "100 Most Influential Taglines
Since 1948."
During
the next few years, and thereafter, as part of The American Legion's
strategy for continuous growth we will have to concentrate much more on
marketing our name and what we do than we've ever had to in the past.
Thousands of "veterans service organizations" have popped up all across
the country. All are competing for the membership of veterans and the
donations to help support their good works. Some do great things in a
niche market. Some raise millions of dollars to support their
programs. Some may actually do very little.
None
do as much for active-duty military, veterans, military retirees and
their families as does The American Legion. And, yet, we have no
consistent tagline that readily tells people who we are, what we do, or
who we do it for. Each national commander has a slogan and they are
well thought out and well themed, but they don't lend a permanent
identity to the Legion.
Through
the years we have had many slogans such as "Marching Together Again";
"Veterans Serving Veterans"; "Every Day is Veterans Day"; "Still Serving
America"; "For God and Country" which will never go away but doesn't
serve as an effective tagline.
The
Membership and Post Activities Committee will meet in January to draft a
strategic plan for growing membership year after year; for inculcating
into our corporate culture the idea that "growth is a prerequisite to
everything we do."
Another
of the committee's tasks is to suggest a corporate tagline, which after
approval by the NEC, will be used for the foreseeable future in all of
our advertisements, letterheads, publications, press releases, and so
forth as a description of who we are and what we do.
The
goal is to adopt a tagline which is so significant that all of the
public will recognize it, associate it with The American Legion, and
know what is our "reason for being." Even though it must be short and
pithy, it must be filled with content and phrased in a memorable and
catchy way.
You can help us craft an American Legion tagline by submitting your ideas by email to tagline@legion.org
Submissions may be submitted by individuals (membership is not
required), posts, districts, counties or departments; there is no limit
to the number that may submitted but each submission must be contained
in a single email. We encourage Departments and Posts to give this
information the widest dissemination, as we will do in your national
publications. All submissions must be received no later than April 19, 2013, in order to be considered.
The
Internal Affairs Commission will be the final reviewer of submissions,
and will draft a resolution recommending a permanent tagline. The
decision of the National Executive Committee is final.
If your tagline is the one recommended to the NEC, and adopted exactly as submitted, you will receive a $500 check,
and a Certificate of Appreciation plaque signed by the National
Commander in recognition of your winning entry. The winning entry will
be posted on www.Legion.org after the NEC meets in mid-May 2013. In the event of duplicate winning entries, the earliest received will be declared the winner.
Remember: April 19, 2013, is the deadline, and the email address is: tagline@legion.org
Please include your name and phone number on each entry. Only one
entry per email submission. All entries will be acknowledged by a
return email. Save that return receipt as proof of your submission.
Daniel S. Wheeler
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