First of all, what is a tagline? Wikipedia says,

“A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product (like a film), or to reinforce the audience’s memory of a product.”

Good enough. Today I want to focus on taglines used to promote the company itself, as opposed to products or services.

Companies frequently use taglines in conjunction with their logo in an attempt to reinforce their brand. Apple’s “Think different” is an example of a powerful tagline.

“Think different” is exceptional. All too often, taglines sound contrived, generic, pompous, and/or glib. In such cases, a tagline will obscure the meaning of a brand.

To be effective, a tagline must be original, meaningful, relevant, truthful, eloquent and brief. When you think about it, creating an effective tagline is a tall order, and that’s why really good ones can cost a small fortune.

Sadly, a recent trend in marketing is to trademark any conceivable phrase as a tagline. For example, you might see something like this on a sales brochure or Web site–

Stench-Away(C) Deodorant. The Secret Elixer (TM) for Serious Sweat (TM).

This sort of thing is distracting and has doubtful sales appeal. If you’re not sure about using a tagline, I suggest following the maxim,

“When in doubt, leave it out.”

Your company name already means something to customers. If it doesn’t, you’ve got problems a tagline won’t cure.

The name Starbucks, for instance, means something–different things, actually–to consumers. No tagline. McDonalds, another fairly well known brand, is now using the tagline, “i’m lovin’ it!” Does anyone care? Would any tagline under the sun change a person’s perception of McDonalds?

Taglines are overrated. I think companies tend to employ them as shortcuts to replace the hard work of building a brand that is itself original, meaningful and relevant. If your brand already has those qualities, a tagline will be relatively easy to craft. But in that case, you won’t really need one.

Word Sell … Scrambled Toast