Two months ago, we explored the enviable position of being an organization that has created and now owns a relevant brand-centric tagline that its customers parrot, the marketplace recognizes and its competitors covet.

When I say “Nike,” you say? When I say “Avis,” you say? When I say “pork,” you say?

Was your last answer “Don’t be blah”? If not, I’m sorry, you got it wrong.

Odds are, you said “The other white meat.” Me too.

In 1987, the National Pork Board launched the “Pork. The Other White Meat” campaign to improve the product’s eroding market share. The campaign was wildly successful.

But like the Timex story I told in March, it’s tough to let a good thing ride. In 2005 the NPB partnered with an agency that thought it was time to shake things up a little. It launched the “Don’t be blah” campaign. According to the NPB Web site, this “bold, new level” was based on research that showed many women lacked the confidence to be better cooks. To make it worse, the ad experts didn’t replace the old brand position – they just added the new one on top of it. In their current campaign, one tagline rests right on top of the other.

For the past two years, in TV, radio, print and online campaigns, they’ve tried to retrain us. So why hasn’t “Don’t be blah” caught on?

The most significant reason is because pork already has a brand answer. We’ve learned and come to believe it over the past 20 years.

One product/company = one brand. Our brains just can’t handle more than that.

Want to check out the pork industry’s dual identity? Visit its Web site at (ironically) www.TheOtherWhiteMeat.com.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan  Marketing Group and blogs at  www.drewsmarketingminute.com.  He can be reached at <a href="mailto:Drew@MclellanMarketing.  com”>Drew@MclellanMarketing.  com.  © Drew McLellan