In public relations, we face the challenge of simplifying the message. The importance of a clear, concise message is exemplified well in the Auburn football team’s 2010 mantra – “Good to Great.”

Courtesy of TigerRags.com

At the first team meeting of the season, Auburn head coach Gene Chizik went through a PowerPoint presentation that explained to the players how they were going to go from good in 2009 (8-5) to great in 2010. He supported it with details the team followed through on during the season. An example of one is Auburn’s strength coach yelling during workouts everyday, “Eight ain’t enough.”

All season long, the Tigers played with that “Good to Great” mantra in mind. It worked, with Auburn winning college football’s national championship, beating Oregon 22-19 in the Bowl Championship Series title game. Those “g2g” t-shirts paved the way for “National Champions” t-shirts:

Courtesy of FansEdge.com

After the title game, Gene Chizik said, “We wanted to go from good to great. And I can sit here tonight and I can tell you that Auburn — the Auburn Tigers are the best football team in the United States tonight.”

The perfect cap to a perfect season, a season jump started by a simple message. When I am working with my clients this year, I am going to think about Auburn football. I am going to strive for simple, key messages that will be supported by hard work and attention to detail.

Now, the real challenge is what slogan will the Buffalo Bills come up with for 2011? “Awful to mediocrity” just doesn’t seem right.