Brand Taglines

I did some research on brand taglines for a professional requirement. Am sharing some info I collated. Hope its useful to someone.

Tagline is an often repeated phrase associated with an individual, organization, or commercial product.

A tagline should do some or all of the following:

  • Clarify (what you do, how you are positioned, etc.)
  • Express an important brand attribute
  • Support your positioning
  • Help people recognize and remember you
  • Emphasize a compelling customer benefit
  • Brand promise
  • Remind your organization of key focus
  • Amplify central marketing message

Helps to visualize what the tagline should be :

  • Think of a tagline as an opportunity to articulate your differentiation, express your personality or convey some other important brand quality
  • One of the few ways a company can explicitly articulate its brand promise express your company’s vision or unique market
  • Think of your tagline as a final exclamation point that wraps up your elevator pitch
  • Think of your tagline as a promise
  • Value of a great tagline to be two-fold—it helps explain your brand to your customers, and it continually reminds you of your brand’s ultimate focus (what you are trying to be)

8 Ingredients of a Great Tagline

  • Keep it short
  • Convey a single simple idea or benefit
  • If possible, be specific
  • Be sure your claim is believable
  • Avoid generic or clichéd statements that could apply to other businesses
  • Support or explain your positioning
  • Make it memorable
  • Stick with your tagline for the long haul

Characteristics of a good tagline:

  • ‘sell the sizzle, not the steak’ (benefit vs. feature)
  • not be usable by a competitor
  • impart positive feelings about the brand
  • differentiate the brand

Examples:

  • “Innovation” (3M)
  • “Better things for better living, through chemistry” (DuPont)
  • “Disease has no greater enemy” (Glaxo/Wellcome)
  • Holiday Inn: “Pleasing people the world over”
  • Karry-Lite: “Takes the ‘lug’ out of luggage”
  • Polaroid: “The fun develops instantly”
  • The Economist: “Free enterprise with every issue”
  • British Rail: “We’re getting there”
  • Cheese Council: “Anyway you please it, cheese it”
  • Timex: “Takes a licking and keeps on ticking”
  • Metropolitan Home: “Mode for your abode”
  • Apple: Think different
  • TAZO: The reincarnation of tea
  • FedEx: The world on time
  • Saturn: A different kind of car company
  • eBay: The world’s online marketplace
  • Target: Expect more. Pay less.
  • GE: We bring good things to life

Test for a good tagline:

  • Is your tagline consistent with your brand name and brand positioning?
  • Will your target audience understand the language you’ve used?
  • Are you communicating one simple idea?
  • Will your tagline stand out in advertising and corporate communications?
  • Have you tried out the tagline with clients and prospects?
  • Does your tagline differentiate your firm from the competition?
  • Have you removed all acronyms and jargon?
  • Are you using specifics rather than vague words or generalizations?
  • Lastly, check if your tagline communicates your brand promise to your prospects and customers. And helps them choose YOU in a cluttered marketplace.

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