I have told this story to many of our friends and family, and, with their encouragement, I thought I would share it more broadly. This story is written from the perspective of Kim’s husband (Patrick).
Brand slogans have been used forever. They are short, memorable articulations of a brand's benefit. Slogans, because they are short and memorable, are easily shared and understood to help a brand grow and potential customers to understand the offering. Some famous examples include “Just do it” (Nike), “The Quicker Picker Upper” (Bounty) and “Finger-Licking Good” (Kentucky Fried Chicken). These slogans are obvious in retrospect but took great care to create and many years to become well-known.
When Kim started this business, all she had was her mission … A place where moms can go during the wedding planning process and be celebrated. Inspiring mission, but a bit too long for a slogan. We had several early articulations of the tagline, but none really got us excited.
- The Dress Boutique for Moms
- Where Moms are Celebrated
- Just for Moms
One day as I was agonizing over taglines, I remember a phrase I used with my boys … “MMH”. MMH was shorthand for Make Mom Happy. I created the "MMH" for when we would go on vacation. Kim always made sure our family took at least one vacation a year. It was incredibly important to her to have family time given our busy lives. She would meticulously plan it months in advance. She would make sure the boys were properly packed and of course, made sure the family was at the airport 3 hours before boarding.
Our boys did tend to argue and tease each other. They were only 18 months apart and so there was a natural rivalry between them. Before each vacation, I would implore them to be on their best behavior during vacation. Vacation was something that made Kim happy, and we owed it to her to make her happy. Thus, the birth of the “Make Mom Happy” family rally cry. I used “MMH” for short so I could say it to the boys when Kim was around and when their bickering was, let’s say, not making mom happy. I’ve included Kim’s favorite family picture from a vacation. It still hangs in the entry of our home as evidence we did Make Mom Happy (most of the time).
Once we started to use Making Moms Happy at The Queen’s Lace, it became obvious in retrospect as well. It captures Kim’s mission to celebrate moms during the wedding planning process with a dress boutique focused on them. Whether a mom (or grandmom) buys a dress or not, we just want them to leave the boutique happy.
“Making Moms Happy” probably won’t become more popular than “The Quicker Picker Upper”, but it will forever serve as a reminder of our mission at The Queen’s Lace.