What is a tagline, anyway?

A tagline is a phrase that tells your audience who you are and what you stand for.

• Nike – Just do it.

• Allstate – You’re in good hands.

• Maybelline – Maybe she’s born with it, Maybe it’s Maybelline

• Subway – Eat Fresh

 All of these sound pretty familiar, right?  They’re engrained in the brains of consumers everywhere.  They are not only short, sweet, and informative, but they’re memorable – recognizable. If your audience leaves your website, stall, storefront, etc. make the tagline something that will tell them everything they need to know about your brand in a neat, compact phrase that they’ll remember.

What makes a good tagline, though?

In order to create the perfect tagline, you need to be intimately familiar with the brand values. You want to portray these values in a unique and memorable way that infers your brand can improve your audience’s life in some way.

Be descriptive and request or indicate action – often with the use of a verb.  Try to be inclusive of your whole audience and stand out from your competitors. You don’t want to say, “Buy the best towels from me because we use clean are methods of production.”  You do not have to specifically say what it is that your brand sells. Look for ways to hit emotional cues with your audience and represent your brand values. “Clean air. Ultimate comfort.”

As with most areas of brand development, you need to think about what your brand wants to represent, what problem you are solving for your consumer, how you can help your potential consumers see your product in their lives in a way they don’t want to live without it – Then think about how that applies to the element of brand development you are working on.

So, do you need a tagline or a slogan?  Maybe both. The distinction between a tagline and slogan basically boils down to brand values vs. product statement. Your tagline should be about your brand and what it stands for while a slogan is about a product.