When I think of taglines, I think about my wife (before we married) purchasing a video rental store back in 2004. The name of the store was Showtime Video. This was before the transition to every movie being accessible via internet or Redbox. This was a time where people went to the movie rental store and spent a good amount of time looking in a specific genre at empty movie cases to find a good movie to rent for 2-3 days.
I went to visit her one day. I thought I would be nice and help her put up returned videos. In that time, I had a revelation. This little jingle entered my head. “Showtime video, your time video, time to go to Showtime.” A tagline was born. From this jingle, we condensed the jingle to “Your time Video” to make this the tagline for Showtime Video. .
Now, video stores are a thing of the past. No tagline could save this transition to more immediate movie viewings. However, looking back on what happened in that instance of birthing a tagline, I can see how it would have translated well for Showtime Video. There were three questions to ask about Showtime Video to get to the tagline:
- What is the ultimate benefit I want my customer to gain? Videos are a way to escape and they require your time.
- How will my product make my customer’s life better? This is a time to relax and enjoy watching a movie.
- Why is my business better than my competition’s? Because Showtime cared about their customers and their customer’s time.
These questions lead the business owner to better branding and even premium rental prices. (Gaudet, 2019)
When looking back at this tagline “Your time Video”, I think now to the 4C’s of copywrite. The message is clear in three words. This is a time for you to watch a video. This is your time. It is concise. In three words, the picture is painted of someone chilling on a couch and watching a movie with no interruptions. It is compelling as it puts emphasis on the consumer. This is the consumer’s time to watch a video. Credibility comes in the business itself. Back in 2004, Showtime video was in direct competition with Blockbuster video as they were the only two video rental stores with a large enough selection to sustain the rental business. Other video rental businesses popped up around town, but everyone went to Showtime or Blockbuster because of their extended selection of movies. (Bly, 2010)
While the business fell through in 2006 (as most video rental stores did), something happened just a few months ago which really surprised me. One of my wife’s employees, who is a good friend, remembered the jingle from 2004. “Showtime video, your time video, time to go to Showtime.”