Creating a tagline for your business can be a very powerful way to cement your brand in the minds of your consumers.
Taglines fulfil an important role in branding as they allow consumers to quickly understand what a business is all about.
Before I go into the 8 steps to creating an effective tagline, I’ve put together a little quiz to see if you can identify the brands that they are connected with. This will also demonstrate how effective a group of words that create a slogan can be for a brand.
What brands are connected with these taglines?
- Think Different
- The happiest place on earth
- Finger-Lickin’ good
- Because you’re worth it
- Melts in your mouth, not in your hands
- I’m lovin’ it
- Just do it
- Gives you wings
- You’re not you when you’re hungry
- Oh what a feeling
Answers are at the end of the post.
3 Essentials when creating a business slogan
When you start to create a slogan for your business, ask yourself ‘So What?’ What will make someone care?
- Think about the benefits and outcomes of your brand
- Focus on the emotion, the core values that make you different
- Make it memorable
8 Ways to Create a powerful and memorable business tagline
1. Keep It Simple
If you were forced to tell someone in one, five words or less why they should use your business – what would you say?
The reality is that if you can’t explain in three to five words what your vision, purpose or benefit is, then it becomes harder for people to remember your tagline. When you look at Mastercard’s lengthy slogan “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard”, you can see why when they started the ‘Priceless’ campaign, how the word ‘priceless’ has become a single word tagline for their brand.
2. Tell a Story
What’s your brand story? Is there a way that you can connect your brand story to your tagline? What is your why? Why do you do what you do? What is the essence of your brand? If you can communicate this effectively in your slogan, you will hit the mark with the customers.
De Beers is the worlds leading brand in diamonds. Their slogan ‘A Diamond is Forever’ tells the story not just of the product that they deal in, but also the longevity and strength of their brand which is connected to the hardest natural material mined on the planet.
3. Focus on the outcome
Think about the outcome for the client. What’s in it for them and why should they care? Weight Watchers is a great example of focusing on the reason why customers should use them, it’s simple… ‘Because it works.’ In their slogan, they are focusing on the outcome, and as this alleviates the major pain point for people wanting to lose weight, it resonates with their clients.
4. Reflect your customers’ core beliefs
One of the worlds most recognised tagline is Nike’s ‘Just do it’. Simple, easy to remember and relate to the core traits of their customers and their brand positioning. Nike is the perfect example of creating a slogan that resonates with their customers’ core beliefs.
5. Be memorable
Creating a slogan that is memorable is key to linking it to your brand. When consumers hear a particular sequence of words together they immediately think of your brand. Apple’s ‘Think Different’ is not about computers or phones, this tagline goes to the core of not just how they want their customers to think, but how they work to achieve their outcomes. It’s what they are all about, it connects so strongly with their brand which makes it easy to remember. It’s short, to the point and memorable. Now think about Microsoft. What is their tagline?
6. What is your USP?
One of the goals with your tagline is to encapsulate the essence of the brand and your unique selling point (USP) with just a few words. Take Subway, for example, their tagline is ‘Eat Fresh’ which goes to the core of their unique selling point and sums everything up in just two words.
7. Focus!
Do not try and be all things to all people. Focus on one essential key message and stick with it. If your message keeps changing or it’s too broad or bland, people will forget it which defeats the purpose of having a tagline. On that note, can you tell me what tagline Fedex has?
8. Create an emotion
Create emotion in your tagline. Connect the consumer through humour, nostalgia, desire, ambition, connection, inclusiveness, exclusivity etc. A slogan that is emotive will resonate both consciously and subconsciously within the mind of the consumer.
Disneyland’s tagline is ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’, which conjures up emotions of enjoyment, smiles, family time, memories and good, honest fun. With completely different emotions, Calvin Klein’s ‘Between love and madness lies obsession’ connects to desire, intimacy and passion.
Once you have a slogan that you are happy with, run it by your clients. Don’t ask them if they like it, ask them if they understand it. Does it tell them anything about your brand? Be open to feedback and be prepared to go back to the drawing board.
Answers
- Think Different – Apple
- The happiest place on earth – Disneyland
- Finger-Lickin’ good – KFC
- Because you’re worth it – L’Oréal
- Melts in your mouth, not in your hands – M&M’s
- I’m loving it – McDonalds
- Just do it – Nike
- Gives you wings – RedBull
- You’re not you when you’re hungry – Snickers
- Oh what a feeling – Toyota
Written by branding specialist Debbie O’Connor
Consultant, Strategist, Keynote Speaker
