What a Blunder!
A few years ago my university alma mater launched a marketing campaign to increase enrollment into the College of Business’s MBA program. The great minds on this campaign came up with the slogan, “Join the Elite,” thus implying... earn your MBA and you will be a member of an elite group.
So you’re probably thinking, “Sure, OK…I get it.” But herein lies the problem...
The message implies that earning an MBA makes you elite. Therefore, I could earn an MBA from anywhere and thus become a member of this elite group.
Now, for example, look at Milk. “Got milk?” is a question that has been posed on TV commercials and print ads since 1993 when the California Milk Processor Board launched the “got milk?” campaign http://www.gotmilk.com. “Got milk?” however, is a slogan that works…
So, why does “got milk?” work and “Join the Elite” not work?
The answer is quite simple. “Got milk?” is a marketing campaign that is licensed by the California Milk Processor Board. Now, if Mayfield Dairy (www.mayfielddairy.com) wanted to ask you if you’ve “got milk?” then the question would really need to be phrased, “Got Mayfield Milk?” Otherwise, the consumer’s milk could just as easily have come from Stonyfield Farm, Parmalat Dairy, or any other dairy milk company.
Sure the “Join the Elite” campaign encourages the audience to earn an MBA. But, it doesn’t put any emphasis on what university one should earn their MBA from.
Watch out for marketing message blunders. A mixed message can end up helping the competition instead.
