And the Winner of the Best Trail of Painted Ponies Slogan is…

All month long I’ve been looking forward to reading the slogans that were submitted in response to the competition announcement on this page. I did not keep track of them as they came in, preferring to wait until the last day of the month when I would sit at my desk with a cup of coffee to keep me company, and go down the list, one by one. 

This morning I came into the office early and, to put myself in the right frame of mind, I Iogged on to Google to reach out and touch someone… to let my fingers do the walking… to just do it.

First, I checked out the Ad Slogan Hall of Fame, a virtual place that regularly recognizes excellence and hangs a ribbon on those slogans and jingles you hear on the radio or TV, and hours later are humming or singing in your head. My personal favorites were Smuckers: “With a name like Smuckers… it has to be good.” And Memorex: “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” Those, my friends, are good slogans.

I also read an article on How Slogans Work that informed me what I should keep in mind in selecting my favorite. The best slogans should not only be memorable, they should focus on a key benefit, they should differentiate a brand, and they should impart positive feelings… all in as few words as possible. They should function like commercial haiku’s, in other words.

Then I had a little fun. I noticed there were several websites that offered an online tool that would instantly create a slogan for me if I typed in the name of our company. “FREE Slogan Generators,” they were called. So I typed in “Painted Ponies” and instantly received, “Painted Ponies: Let the Good Times Roll.” That seemed to me to be about as personally tailored as the predictions in a Chinese fortune cookie, so I clicked on another site, followed the directions, and this time “Painted Ponies: Cream of the Crop” was kicked back to me. I wasn’t impressed. But for the heck of it I stayed on the same site and typed in “Painted Ponies” again. This time I hit the jackpot: “Bet You Can’t Eat Just One Painted Ponies.”

Enough of this nonsense, I thought, turning my attention to the competition entries… and very quickly I realized what I had gotten myself into. It happens with every competition. I start out thinking there will be an Aha Moment. That I will look at an image – or in this case a saying – and the winner will reveal itself unquestionably.

By the time I got to the last entry I knew I was in trouble. I had jotted down a dozen slogans that informed, entertained, charmed, and at least that many more I thought deserved a second consideration. So before starting again I decided I had to set some parameters. The slogan I picked couldn’t be too long. It shouldn’t repeat any of the words in the name The Trail of Painted Ponies. The message shouldn’t be too literal, but rather evocative without sounding flowery. If possible, it should turn the corners of my mouth up in a smile when I read it aloud.

The final litmus test was that it should have a stickiness about it.

Before starting at the top again, I tried to think of the ones I remembered from the first read-through. Two came to mind.

One was Trail of Painted Ponies: Not a One Trick Pony.  “One Trick Pony“ is a slang expression that originated in small circuses where a horse was trained to perform a simple, single trick, and was known for little else. It has customarily been used in a disparaging way, suggesting a lack of flexibility or an ability to work only within very specific parameters. Painted Ponies are anything but One Trick Ponies.

The other was Trail of Painted Ponies: Have Paint Will Travel, a play off “Have Gun Will Travel,” a top-rated western television series in the late 50s that became an advertising catchphrase used in the 60s to indicate a readiness for anything. The lead character, a western gunslinger named Paladin, enforced his own brand of justice, and was known for his business card which featured a white chess knight and his motto: Have Gun Will Travel.

Can I get a drum roll here?  I did not find a catchy, pithy, bulls-eye of a slogan. However, I did find a phrase that seem to me to sum up The Trail of Painted Ponies brand as a whole. It also echoed the motto of Infosys: “Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values.”

So Brandon Carter, come on down. I am crowning you the winner of this competition for your slogan: “Trail of Painted Ponies: Inspired by Beauty, Created with Excellence.”

And a big thank you to the rest of you for submitting your ideas.