You know those cute little catchphrases that, when you hear them, you instantly associate it with a company or a brand? The motto. The jingle. The mantra.

How many of these ring a bell?

• • • I’m lovin’ it.
    • Zoom Zoom
    • Just Do It
    • Eat fresh
    • Because I’m Worth It
    • There is No Substitute
    • You Can Do it. We can help.

McDonalds, Mazda, Nike, Subway, L’Oreal, Porshe and Home Depot are all these huge  international behemoths, and we’re not one of those (yet), but if we’re going to get there one day, one of the first things we need is a guldurned catchphrase!

We’ve been tossing them around for a while now focusing on our “us, not them” sensibility. As in, we’re a small(ish) company that can cater to the needs of our customers on a personal level because to us, they are people, not just some number on a balance sheet somewhere.

The Worldline pond. Hockey anyone?

Or we thought we could go with our overarching Canadian-ness, and play that up huge. But, as Canadian as we are, (what other company do you know that has a shinny rink right beside there head office?), so is our competition.

Sure, Rogers may he floating $1-billion bond issues to US investors, or Bell Canada has a substantial U.S. ownership, and we are 100% Canadian owned, but they are still Canadian, at least technically.

No, we have to go with something else; something that says what we do, who we are, and how we’re different.

First off, we’re a phone company and an Internet Service Provider. That said, the future is pointing less and less towards the phone part, and more and more towards the Internet. The future will be all about data, so that has to be central to the messaging.

Then there is the core philosophy of the co-founders of “Positive Disruption”. As we’ve been saying since we started blabbing about ourselves, Canadians are being overcharged for their data, and therefore the company, whenever possible, would price products in such a way as to snap the competition out of their gouging ways – see March Madness for example.

Then there is their focus on the “free”, the business model that got them to where they are now. The idea that, whenever it’s possible, provide our people something in their service that they would pay for elsewhere as a “thank you.” Thanks for sticking with us.

Boiled down, it comes down to this. What makes us different when it comes to providing home phone and data in the residential world is, we don’t charge for long distance on our Digital Home Phone or have a limit on monthly downloads with our High Speed Internet, as in no caps. We don’t force our customers into sticking with us by a gimmicky contract that could end up costing them huge in the end, so no contracts. And finally, we’re deadly serious about becoming a major player in the Canadian marketplace utilizing these core business philosophies and practices. We’re not kidding.

So there is it:

No caps – No contracts – No kidding

That’s Worldline.

Now, all we have to do is get the bosses to agree with it and then we’ve really got something!

If you have any ideas – post them in the comments.