I need help with a tagline for our new business. We are combining two businesses into one: One selling children’s shoes and classic items, the other selling educational materials and curriculum for families and teachers. The store is called Classic Kids. We need a tagline and had thought of “Helping kids grow from head to toe”- but we aren’t really “helping” them and it seems wrong. But, how do we capture the two unique angles of our store in a tagline?

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Jay’s Answer: If you would’ve asked me what I thought about combining these two businesses under one roof, I’d strongly advise against doing it. The problem you’d face is that you’re trying to sell different things to different audiences. That means that your message is either too generic (to encompass the range) or too limited (missing on the other half of your business). Teachers aren’t interested in buying educational information from a shoe store, etc. People in general don’t go looking for things in a variety store – it’s fun to look, but hard to find what you need unless you have some expert helpers. People do go looking in stores that specialize in a product or service.

No doubt you had a good reason to want to combine the two businesses, so the best I can suggest is using “Classic Kids” as an umbrella name, and creating two brands underneath it. For example: Little Feet (a division of Classic Kids) and Classically Smart (a division of Classic Kids).

A tagline that hopes to span these diverse needs will no doubt feel like an artificial stretch, and therefore won’t help to clarify what exactly you’re selling to whom.